Subscribe via:
Show Summary
In this episode of the Real Estate Pros podcast, Justin Anderson, CEO and founder of RentSmart, discusses the evolution of property management technology and the importance of surrounding oneself with successful individuals in the real estate investment space. He shares insights on the comprehensive leasing solutions offered by RentSmart, the role of AI in tenant screening, and the significance of building relationships in the real estate industry. Justin emphasizes the need for aspiring investors to learn from those ahead of them and highlights the free services provided by RentSmart to streamline the leasing process.
Resources and Links from this show:
-
Listen to the Audio Version of this Episode
Investor Fuel Show Transcript:
Justin Anderson (00:00)
And AI has the ability to tell us if it was Photoshopped or if it was doctored and is it a legitimate document that’s there to be able to use it when we have an applicant that’s coming through to apply for a home that they are having ID verification where they’re uploading their ID and then doing a biometric scan to validate that it’s who they really are.Quentin Edmonds (01:50)
Hello everyone. Welcome to the Real Estate Pros podcast. I am your host, Q Edmonds. You know what I’m gonna say? I’m extremely excited to be here today. If you watched me enough, you know I find great joy in being able to talk to people to see things from their perspective. You see things from their vantage point. I mean, if I talk to somebody that does has the same niche, that’s doing the same thing, niche, that’s doing the same thing.It’s still such an honor just to get their perspective about how what they do. And so today is no different. I have someone listen, you know, he has figured out a way how to vet tenants for his clients. That way they know they’re getting the premier client, getting someone that’s the ideal client for what they need. And I want him to tell you all about it. I’m sure he is. He built a wonderful company. I am.
thoroughly enjoyed talking to this gentleman before we got started. And I know you’re going to get a ton of knowledge and nuggets just from his perspective, the way he does things. And so I am so elated to introduce you guys to Mr. Justin Anderson. Justin, how you doing today,
Justin Anderson (03:04)
Hey Q, I’m doing good, man. Thank you for having me here today.Quentin Edmonds (03:07)
I know. Absolutely. Thank you for being here. And listen, I kind of want to just dive in. I want you to tell us what your main focus is these days. Mr. Justin, if you want to give us a little bit of an origin story, the heroes journey to kind of how you got to where you are and doing what you do, we would love to know that. And if you want to tell us what part of the world you’re in, what markets you’re operating in, I would love to know that as well. We would love to know that as well.So Mr. Justin, sir, you have the floor.
Justin Anderson (03:38)
Super thanks. So again, yeah, thank you, Q. My name is Justin Anderson. I am the CEO and founder of rentsmart.com. We are a nationwide platform that performs tenant matching services. So we handle the entire leasing operation from a software perspective for our clients. And we work with clients anywhere from the individual operator or investor that runs one property up to clients that are professional managers that are running six, seven, 800 doors.And so we operate their through our software, their leasing operation. handle all of the property listings, the showing and showing coordination, primarily through a self-showing model with an option for them to do an in-person showing solution. But then we finalize it with the screening of the applications to a client’s criteria where we’re using AI and automation tools to be able to vet the data and information that comes in through that application, deliver it to the client to make a
final leasing decision. And if the client denies that application, for whatever reason, we handle the compliance by sending out the adverse action letters and keeping them within compliance with fair housing laws. So we act as a really a leasing solution for our clients nationwide. How did I get started? Great question. I actually was an investor first and still am. I got started back in 1998. I bought my first single family investment property. At that time, the sum
total of my knowledge was I had read Rich Dad Poor Dad. And in that book, Robert Kiyosaki told me to go buy a house and let somebody pay it off for you. I was 25 years old and too young and ignorant to know that I shouldn’t be able to do that if I had no job, no income. so I went after it. Thankfully, I was that ignorant. went after it. Started buying real estate. By 1999, I bought my first investment property and
As that got going, the bug bit me over the years I scaled by 2003. started buying apartment complexes. By 2009, I owned and operated over 800 units. At that point, I was looking around the market, the market cycle, understanding what was happening in the environment. Cause I wasn’t just in my home market of Augusta, Georgia at that point. I was in multiple markets around the country. We started to scale back.
I felt like it was a good opportunity to exit the apartment business with what I saw on the horizon. And that’s probably a dialogue for another time. But the short answer is it led me to open my real estate brokerage. I came back to Augusta, reinvested in single family homes, and had a handful of clients that wanted to follow that pursuit. And so we started buying single family homes in Augusta, Georgia. And I built a real estate brokerage. And out of that brokerage, I had somebody that came to work for me.
You know, this is, as you and I were talking, Quentin before this show, this is a relatively archaic business. mean, real estate investing, property management, the landlording, it’s like a Stone Age style business that technology has largely left in the dust until the last four or five years where we’ve seen some major technological shifts coming into play. And out of that movement, I had somebody in my office.
that we had hired that was a tech director that convinced me to start building out our own internal proprietary technology to run our brokerage. And when I saw what he was building, we realized that that was a product that could be brought to market for not just other larger property management professionals like myself in the brokerage, or also for our individual investments, but it was something that could be brought nationwide to
to a wide array of clients, like I mentioned, whether it was an individual operator that has just bought their first investment property and is really scared about how to bring on that first tenant and making sure they’ve properly vetted the information, or it is a larger property management operation that is looking to streamline operations, cut payroll costs, remove a leasing agent, and be able to operate with technology, the entire leasing operation. Here’s the best part about it, for free. Our entire software platform is
free for the end user. The only fee that we charge or that we receive is the actual application fee from the tenant. So for the user, for all of the listing services through all the major syndicate sites, the Zillow’s, the apartment group, the lovely group, all of the major syndicate sites, we handle that and cover those costs. The showing coordination, other than purchasing the appropriate lock box, it is free for the client to use all of the self-showing technology that we built. And then on the screening side, the tenants paid the application fee.
we run that process and deliver back the validated vetted information for the client to make a decision on the the tenant or the applicant.
Quentin Edmonds (09:51)
Thank you for sharing. I mean, you literally walked us through the journey and I absolutely love it. And one thing I wrote down is that you’re a leasing solution. Like you are taking the guesswork out of it for people. Like you are really taking burdens off of people’s shoulders with everything that you’re doing and being that one shop place that’s consolidating all these decisions, all these different pieces that have to be moved around.When went with Rinse Smart, you are really taking the burden off people’s shoulders. And it sounds like to me, it’s kind of like a no brainer to really implement you guys in what you do. honestly, you know, it sounds like a no brainer because like you said, you’re moving this thing out of the stone age. You know, you’re moving it, you know, to a place where it can be functional, you know, where automation can be just put in, where delegation can be put in. really can take the stress off of people if they really implement it. So.
I love it. love the business that you have. listen, Mr. Justin, I want to pick your brain a little bit about strategy.
Justin Anderson (10:57)
technology and what it can do.Quentin Edmonds (10:59)
Mm hmm. Mm hmm. No, absolutely not.Justin Anderson (11:02)
I wasjust going to say, it’s pretty interesting. You know what, what my tech team has shown me, what we can do with that technology, because again, coming out of the stone age, I’ve been at this for 27 years and for years and years, would vet my own tenants and what they showed me with some of this technology, what AI and automation has the ability to do now where we get pay stubs coming in or employment verification. And we can look at that and to the human eye, it looks outstanding, but you throw that thing into AI.
And AI has the ability to tell us if it was Photoshopped or if it was doctored and is it a legitimate document that’s there to be able to use it when we have an applicant that’s coming through to apply for a home that they are having ID verification where they’re uploading their ID and then doing a biometric scan to validate that it’s who they really are.
And that technology, again, it didn’t exist five years ago in this business. And for that to be coming into play and for the individual, man, if I would have had that when I bought that first single family home.
the fear that it would have taken away from me of what if I put the wrong tenant in here? What if I don’t know what I’m, and I didn’t, I didn’t know anything. My lease was three pages long and my screening process was I looked at the car they drove up in and I felt pretty good about them. So we approved them. That was my sum total of vetting somebody. So having that backbone and the technology and software that can help.
somebody feel confident in their leasing decisions as they are building their business is definitely outstanding.
Quentin Edmonds (12:34)
Absolutely, absolutely. And so I want to pick your brain a little bit about some of your strategies. You obviously successful investor, build the brokerage. Now you’re in tech. And so there, I believe there’s obviously some core business strategies that you’ve identified that work for you. But I believe there’s also probably core personal strategies that you use as well. And I mean, when I say personal strategy, some people may use meditation, you know, working out like, but I’m sureFor you, there has to be some core strategies that you identify business-wise and personal-wise. And if that’s the case, I would love to hear more about that.
Justin Anderson (13:11)
Sure, I think that to me the most important thing, I think at this point you’re really sort of talking to the entrepreneurial crowd, the folks that are you know starting up their investment business, they’re starting to buy rental properties, things like that, and build their portfolio, build some wealth. And the best advice I can offer is surround yourself with successful people. Surround yourself with folks that are already in this game, that are a little bit further down the road than you.and gain an understanding of what they’re doing. One of the more common things that have happened, Quentin, when I’m in rooms, when I’m presenting, when I’m a keynote speaker or presenting at different organizations and groups, a lot of times the question is, well, tell me about your biggest mistakes. And here’s what I will tell you after 27 years of teaching and speaking and helping investors. I can’t give you my mistakes. So you’re going to make your own mistakes. But if I can help you understand
the success principles, which is why I love your question so much. If I can help you understand the things that you should be focused on and the things you should be doing, you’re not going to be in the same situation to even make my same mistakes. So those mistakes are irrelevant. What really matters is surrounding yourself with folks that are just a little bit further down the road than you. If you think about this journey as being on a freeway, I live in Augusta from here to Atlanta. That’s 125, 120 miles, something like that.
And we get on that freeway and it doesn’t matter what time of day I get on that freeway. There’s always somebody ahead of me and there’s always somebody behind me. And it doesn’t matter when, what time of day or anything, there’s always somebody already on that road ahead of me. And if I could just try and understand what that guy in front of me saw, what road, you know, what hazards are coming up so that I can follow in his footsteps or her footsteps and steer down the path of what that successful person is doing. So, so, you know, trying to, trying to.
circle myself with with talented folks that are already in the game.
Quentin Edmonds (15:51)
Yeah, no, Mr. Justin, I thank you so much for that. think that’s a good nugget for our viewers to have. I believe that that can be a possible mind shift for somebody that lives in solitude, that kind of lives, you know, has been going that thing solo and they’ve had some success, but have the actual mindset now that, maybe I need to surround myself with people that’s actually where I’m trying to go.You know, somebody might have reached a plateau and they might be saying, you know, what’s the next step? And I think that nugget that you gave them can say, okay, maybe I need to reach out somewhere. I must help with somebody that’s actually where I’m trying to go. And so I appreciate that coming from you. Cause for me, that courage is coming from you with somebody that has built success along this journey. So I appreciate that.
Justin Anderson (16:43)
Yeah. And, know, I think that most cities that I’ve found and I’ve been a part of and help mentor and lead a number of these investment groups, you know, throughout my career. But in most cities, there is some type of real estate investment association or group that you can go to and meet folks and see people that are actually in your hometown, in your market, actually doing business and get an understanding of who those folks are. And most of themit’s mostly volunteer organizations. So the vast majority of those people are there truly to serve and help you. So I would encourage you to look into those types of operations. So the listener and you, cause we’re talking about you getting some deals too. ⁓
Quentin Edmonds (17:24)
atOkay,
okay, here you go slot. Listen, don’t don’t try to put this back on me. I’ll see what you did there. Mr. Justin. But you’re absolutely right. You’re absolutely right. I appreciate you saying that. I really do. I appreciate how you you make sure that I am actively making sure not only that I’m asking questions, but I’m taking in the information that you’re giving for me myself as well. So I appreciate that about you. one of those people that that okay, yeah, you asking me questions, but
Hey, sir, tell me a little bit about you. What are you doing? Are you taking care of yourself? So I do. appreciate that, Mr. Justin. ⁓ So let me ask you, what’s the next real goal for Rent Smart? Are you looking to solve or scale something next? What are your aims? What’s the targets that you got in front of you?
Justin Anderson (18:12)
Well, so we’re still really, you know, as we mentioned before this, we started this, we’re still sort of in startup mode, the software it’s been in development for about 18 months. We launched in March of this past year. And so we are really, you know, deeply into the scaling mode. You know, the objective is to be able to provide this leasing solution for operators, just nationwide. We’re operating, you know, we have the capability of operating in all 50 states. Right now we’re in about14 that we have clients in that we’re working in. And so we’re really looking just to expand the brand and expand the service that we’re providing to a wider array of investors and professional brokers.
Quentin Edmonds (18:53)
Absolutely, absolutely love it. And I love listening to you talk to my surrounding yourself with people. So I wanna talk to you a little bit about relationships. And I wanna know how has relationships impacted you? Has the relationships impacted you negatively or positively? I mean, I know you talked about, know, mid-short chip. I know you talk about teaching people, but I really wanna nail down relationships with people that’s listening.And how do they impact you, Mr. Justin?
Justin Anderson (19:23)
Well, you know, I mean, this is a relationship business at its core. This is a business about people and it’s about the relationships that we build. You know, this past weekend at one of the investment groups that I go to, one of my personal mentors was the speaker and it was exciting to hear him say, you know, he was talking about the control over our mind and the ability to take control of sort of our destiny and the idea thatsomebody made us mad or somebody made us sad and that sort of negative mindset of that negative view. says, the reality is you allowed for that to happen. You have a choice. You have a choice. Are you going to allow that person to make you mad or are going to allow that person to make you sad? And you have control over those pieces. So the idea that, that we have these negative influences in our lives, I really believe as my mentors helped coach and guide me that
that those are choices. And this is a relationship business. So focusing on the positive impact that we have on other people and the positive impact that people have on us is really where we should focus all of our attention forward focus, not backwards focus.
Quentin Edmonds (20:36)
No,sir. You are exactly correct. You know, nobody really has an influence over you. You allow people to have influence on you. They’re only just trying to stroke something that’s in you. So for example, and I’m sure you’ve probably heard this, if somebody knocks over a cup, the only thing that’s going to spill out is what’s inside of them. So the only thing somebody’s trying to do is knock you over. What’s inside of you is what you’ve been in there. So
If there’s coffee, if there’s water, if there’s liquid, how much it is, it only comes pouring out because you poured it in. And so what you pour into you is what’s going come out. So nobody can make you do anything. It’s what’s already inside of you that you have been cultivating and developing. That’s going to come out. So Mr. Justin, you know, keep pushing me and keep pushing me. If anger comes out, it ain’t Mr. Justin’s fault. Now anger has already been putting, I put that inside of me. So I love how you just explained that. That’s absolutely phenomenal. Yes, sir.
Justin Anderson (21:34)
Sure. mean, that’s a powerful thought, right? We have control over our thoughts.Quentin Edmonds (21:38)
Yeah. And it’s funny because I didn’t know that for a long time. For a long time. I only, really only, ain’t it? I really, I really thought the only way to respond to somebody that, that I didn’t agree with was negative was, was anger. I thought that was the only way. That’s the only emotion that I could pull from. I thought for a long time, that was the only way for me to prove my point was to be angry. And you’re right. It’s something that you have to learn. It’s something that you had to be intentional about. And so.Justin Anderson (21:44)
to learn.Quentin Edmonds (22:08)
and of course, you’re not, keep bringing up anger so y’all know what I suffer with, right? So I’m just kind of putting myself up there, but I’m working hard job. working very, very hard.Justin Anderson (22:18)
I that hard to believe, Quentin. I’ve only been talking to you for about 30 minutes, but I’m a pretty good read on people. Man, you’ve got a really good energy about you.Quentin Edmonds (22:26)
Listen,I appreciate that one thing. I’m definitely I’m authentic and honest So even sometimes when I get angry I always got to fall back to come back to honesty and be like listen I was wrong, you know, and that’s one thing I appreciate about myself I’m willing to take accountability. But yeah, but I’ve got myself in some pickles that I wish I wouldn’t got myself into for sure Yeah, you’re absolutely correct absolutely correct
Justin Anderson (22:50)
We don’t learn anything from our successes. Everything we’ve learned is from a setback.Quentin Edmonds (22:56)
And I love how you said, there’s no need for me to put my failures on you. You’re going to have them failures of your own. want to show you how to think differently because you can avoid my failures, even though you still want to have to face your own, but maybe you can avoid mine, avoid mine if I can get you to think differently. And so I just want you to know, I retained that because that was really good for me is that I don’t need to worry about other people’s failures. I’m going make my own for how I can think differently so I can avoid some, some pitfalls and mistakes that others have made. So.Justin Anderson (23:27)
when those things happen, right? I mean, being able to stand up and keep on marching. That’s the objective. And I’ll be fair with you, if you’re not failing, you’re not trying hard enough.Quentin Edmonds (23:33)
That’s it.Come on. Failure and success go hand in hand. They do. you’re absolutely correct. So I like Brene Brown. She synthesized things like this. She said, there’s a difference between shame and guilt. Shame says, this is who you are. Guilt says, this is what I’ve done. So when you talk about failure, there’s a difference between saying, I am a failure and I have failed. All of us will fail. It doesn’t mean you’re failure. It just means failure is just part of the process to get into success.
And so if you’re watching this, please know, change your mindset. You’re not a failure. You just failed and that’s the process to success. And so, yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. This is Justin. I appreciate you, sir. This has been great. I appreciate you. If someone wanted to reach out to you, connect with you, learn more about what you’re doing, talk to you, how to implement, Rent smart. What’s the best way they can get in contact with you,
Justin Anderson (24:33)
Go straight to our website, rentsmart.com. All the information’s there. You’re able to sign up for a free account, start using the software right away. It’s a very simple process to be able to, you know, input a property and define your criteria and start the entire listing process for us to help you validate and vet your tenant information, you know, so that you can make good leasing decisions. And keep you in compliance.Quentin Edmonds (24:56)
Yep. There you go. That part. That’s super critical. Absolutely. Well, Mr. Justin, thank you so much, sir. I thank you for your time. I thank you for your story. I thank you for your perspective. That’s I really thank you for your perspective, the way you think, and just offering, LV or some mindset shift when it comes to some different things that’s, that’s going on in the way they look at things. And so, really appreciate you being here today. This is wonderful. Thank you for coming through.Justin Anderson (25:01)
YouYeah, thank you for having me. I’ve enjoyed the talk.
Quentin Edmonds (25:25)
Absolutely. Well, listen, you heard Mr. Justin, you got the value. You can’t tell me you didn’t. So just make sure you’re subscribed. That way we can continue to come back and just continue to give you just incredible people like Mr. Justin. So again, thank you to thank you, Mr. Justin and to everyone else. We will see you on to next time.
