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Show Summary
In this episode of the Investor Fuel Podcast, host Michelle Kesil speaks with Brian Waters, a fire captain and real estate investor who educates first responders on how to start investing. Brian shares his journey from being a pilot to becoming a successful investor, focusing on out-of-state properties to maximize returns while maintaining a balanced family life. He discusses the unique challenges faced by first responders and how his community-driven approach helps them navigate the complexities of real estate investing. Brian emphasizes the importance of mentorship, networking, and learning from mistakes, providing valuable insights for both new and experienced investors.
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Investor Fuel Show Transcript:
Brian Waters (00:00)
You bet, yeah, I love this conversation. And I think this is kind of a forgotten art in this world. Again, back to the social media thing, you’re gonna hear people, they’re always gonna talk about what? talking about their wins. And it’s cool, but sometimes there’s this false sense of what we’re actually doing and what the problems are. And so, ⁓ I like to start off my group calls with not only the wins, but tell me your losses, because I think people could learn more from their losses than not, right? So ⁓ the biggest one for me is I…I recently bought a wholesale deal. ⁓ I’m sorry, was a deal off the MLS in Detroit.
And the day I closed, I called to introduce myself as the new owner
And the first thing she said to me was, oh, so I’m not being evicted? And my heart just dropped.
Michelle Kesil (02:15)
everybody, welcome to the Investor Fuel Podcast. I’m your host, Michelle Kesil. Today I’m joined by someone that I’ve been looking forward to chatting with, Brian Waters, who’s been making serious moves in the investing space, educating first responders on how to start investing. So excited to have you here today, Brian.Brian Waters (02:37)
Thank you, Michelle. I appreciate the opportunity. I’ve been following you guys for a long time and it’s an honor to be a guest here. So thank you.Michelle Kesil (02:43)
Yeah, absolutely. think that our listeners are really going to take something away from how you’re approaching educating, especially the first responders and yeah, becoming investors. So let’s dive into all of that.Yeah, so just first off, for those who are not familiar with you and your world, can you give the short version of what your main focus is?
Brian Waters (03:10)
Yeah, you bet. So again, my name is Brian Waters. I’m a fire captain for LA County Fire Department out in California. Been doing that for 14 years and I would say on the side, but it’s become more of a full-time job now. I am doing ⁓ long-term investing out of state and I’m teaching other first responders like myself to do the same.Michelle Kesil (03:32)
Amazing. And yeah, what got you into that?Brian Waters (03:37)
Well, truthfully, I’ve had a pretty interesting career as far as work has gone. I used to be a pilot for the airlines and I was a medevac pilot in Hawaii for a few years. when I got hired at the fire department, I got hired pretty late. I got hired at 33. A lot of guys and gals get hired in their 20s. So time was just not on my side. And so I felt like I was getting, I was a little bit behind where I wanted to be. I didn’t want to retire at 63. So started to look around to some of the successful people around me and,were looking what they were doing and sure I had made some mistakes in other fields like stocks and all that, whatever, I don’t want to get into that, but ⁓ I just kind of jumped into the real estate world and it’s been an absolute just game changer for my family and ⁓ I’m personally excited to share that with other first responders, hence why I started the CO3 Invest community and just to help them do that.
Michelle Kesil (04:30)
Awesome. And I know you mentioned that you really focus on out of state investments. Like why is that the market for you and are there specific states would just love to hear a little bit more about that process.Brian Waters (04:44)
Yeah, and that’s a good question. for me, the very first rental property I bought was in California. And California is number one, it’s not very landlord friendly. It’s beautiful, I love it out here. It’s not landlord friendly, it’s very expensive. The property taxes are some amongst the highest in the country. So for someone who wanted to continue scaling, I just hit this panic mode of like, what else is out there? How do I take this high income money that I’m making in California and put it to work somewhere else? And that’s when I discovered long-term investing.And so the other thing you’re gonna notice about other first responders, and I think that some of my clients or some of the guests might resonate with, is we’re very type A people. ⁓ Things have to be in ⁓ their certain lanes. And for me, just like a lot of other people in this industry, I wanted to do this so I could spend more time with my twin boys and coach their football and more time with my wife and my family. I know if I have a bunch of rentals in my neighborhood, guess what I’m gonna be doing on my day off?
I’m gonna be driving over there. I’m gonna be doing all the work myself. So for me, and it sounds crazy, but the fact that they’re 2000 miles away is a benefit to me. I can’t physically go there, which allows me to get my life back. So I just rely on that team on the ground to do it, but it kind of keeps me in it, but far enough away where I could hire the correct people to do the jobs that they’re get at. And my business thrives and my family life thrives as well.
Michelle Kesil (07:01)
Yeah, I love that. I think that’s important to know yourself and what can be the best option for you. Are there like specific states that you recommend to people or it’s just whatever like works for someone’s budget? Like what’s your process?Brian Waters (07:18)
Yeah,I really believe in a lot of people try to recreate the wheel. And what I’ve done is become fairly good at data data analysis. And, know, from listening to podcasts like this one, or, you know, some of the other big ones out there and reading a lot of books, I don’t want to recreate the wheel. So I look for where other investors are investing, and I just jump on the bandwagon as you I guess you’d say. So for me personally, I love I have a ⁓
a really good business partner out in Alabama. I invest a lot in Tennessee. I invest in ⁓ Missouri. And then I’ve been hitting the Detroit market really, really, really hard. I have like an amazing team there and we’re doing a bunch of projects there. So I guess my advice for people is don’t try to go, I’m gonna go to this really cool place that no one ever knows about because we’re trying to build up these communities and the more investors that go there, the nicer the neighborhoods get and the more your house. ⁓
gains appreciation and value. So it’s kind of like if you just jump in where everyone else is doing it and ⁓ you know, and the part of that is networking and finding out where people are doing it. But I really love those markets. They’re low property taxes. They’re landlord friendly. Those are my two most important things. And then once you build that team there, you don’t, you could just keep scaling in those places. So I really love them.
Michelle Kesil (08:37)
Amazing. I love that. So yeah, you teach primarily first responders. Is there like a certain I don’t know methodology that is different for teaching first responders versus just teaching someone else that wants to get into investing?Brian Waters (08:57)
Yeah, I wouldn’t say I meant a lot of my clients are outside that community. ⁓ But my actual avatar of clients, and I think we talked about this before, is first responders were a very special breed of people. Number one, we do dangerous jobs. We’re action takers. We ⁓ solve people’s problems every day. So people call us as a firefighter on their worst day ever.And for us, it may not seem like a big deal, but we’re out there solving problems. So those type of people, doctors, nurses, police, fire, ⁓ all that, that community military, they already have that problem solving skill and they have the ability to work really, really well in teams. Like I don’t do everything on my own by any means at work as a fireman. I rely on the people there. So you can kind of take that same thing that you’re learning in that community and just, just turn it into what you do in business. And so, ⁓ you know, I,
But the main reason why I I ⁓ teach that community is, again, the action takers. And ⁓ I’m really proud of what I’ve learned. And one thing that ⁓ could be an issue for a lot of people in that community is, number one, we’re away from our families a ton. We could be gone for two weeks on a fire. Military could be deployed.
So what do do when you get back? You have to have those days off.
we get stuck in that overtime trap where like, you gotta pay for your kids club soccer so you work an extra day. So you end up, see a lot of people, I’ve been a big part of our peer support team and you see a lot of people unfortunately getting divorces because they get married to the job when we’re, most investors are doing this so they can get that time back with the family. ⁓ that’s, my goal is to capture the younger version of myself in the fire department and the police and all those and try to really educate them early so they can,
make really good financial decisions as they become my age and they’re going to do really, really well. And then I would say the other reason is I got hired late and so selfishly I’m trying not to work forever. So this is really fast forwarded my retirement plan, which is another reason I’m very passionate about teaching it.
Michelle Kesil (11:43)
Yeah, I love that. That’s so important to really cater to that specific lifestyle of people and support them. Yeah, it’s so important. So what are some of the things that you’re working on solving or scaling to next in your business?Brian Waters (12:03)
So the main thing that I’m teaching people is to, depends on where they’re at. all the way from zero knowledge to, I want them to be able to make their decision about stuff. as I grow my community, I’m teaching them just different methods and how to create a system for them where they actually don’t even need me anymore. like.My goal is by the end of the year that we work with people, they can go out and they can teach us to their friends and family and they can do that. ⁓ I’m almost finished with my course, which is about a 60 video course. And that’s gonna be more of like a lower entry for people who don’t want that one-on-one. And I’m pretty proud of that because it’s a good resource of all the stuff I’ve learned and taught. And yeah, I’m just trying to grow my community. I don’t need this to be thousands of people. If I could help 50 people in a small niche, think… ⁓
I think there’s some value to that because I really pride myself on that one-on-one. I want people to be able to be at the closing table with a notary and saying, hey, I don’t understand what I’m reading. Let me call Brian. And sometimes in these larger communities and nothing against them, I’m in them too, but you don’t have access to that. You’re kind of lost in the shuffle. So ⁓ I just want to keep the small tight niche community and just continue helping people when I see those people buy their first out of state property and realize that it’s not that hard.
It’s just a systematic approach. I’m so, so happy. so my students have five, six properties in a year and it’s just mind boggling. I’m like, hey, wait for me. They’re actually kind of, they’re doing better than me, which is I guess every mentors and coaches goal, right? So pretty cool to see.
Michelle Kesil (13:46)
Yeah,amazing. I love that. Yeah, it’s cool when the student takes the reins and surpasses the teacher. ⁓ So what are like some of the major maybe questions that your students come to you with and that you see that like majority are like struggling with certain things and that you help them with?
Brian Waters (14:14)
The one thing, and this is something I had very early on when I was investing, is there’s so many avenues to invest in. from, ⁓ know, like technology and social media could be a very good thing, it could be a very bad thing too. So like there’s people that come to me and they’re talking about Airbnbs and they’re talking about buying land, they’re talking about flipping RV parks and they’re talking, there’s so many ⁓ things tugging people different directions. So what I really sit down,with them and do, and I kind of pride myself on ⁓ just being transparent about what it is I do. ⁓ I want them to be really good at one thing. So I personally do the single families. That doesn’t mean it’s the right thing for everyone. So we have that conversation and I tell them why I think it’s a good fit for them, why I think it’s a ⁓ good avenue. And then I help them kind of hyper-focus and take action. And then what I also ⁓ do is tell them, hey, look, you don’t need to know everything.
you just need to know the next thing and you need to be in the room with people who do know the right thing. That way they can rely on me or the other people in the community. But the one thing that I really, really hammer on early is you just have to take action. I’m sure you’ve seen this time and time again. People come in, it’s like going to a gym, right? They, Hey, if I joined a gym, I’m to be super ripped, but you got to put the work in. So I tell them it’s, I’m very realistic. This is not, ⁓ it’s not hard, but you’d need to put the work in.
And if you don’t, don’t expect any results and you’re going to be back to score one. So long-winded answer, hyper-focus, find a strategy and be really good at it until you move on to the next thing. And then be in a room with people who know what they’re doing. Because if not two years from now, a year from now, they’re never going to start. I personally continue to pay for mentorships, even though I’m a coach myself, because I want to learn from those that doing even more than me.
I think that’s really important in this world. We pay so much to go to college, but we won’t pay a very small amount to educate ourselves and, you know, do better and learn from people who are just one step ahead of you.
Michelle Kesil (17:01)
Totally, yeah, that mentorship piece is crucial because, yeah, we don’t learn these skills just in our day-to-day or from school or anything.So every operator has those moments in business where things get real, maybe a deal goes sideways, or you have to pivot fast. Would you mind sharing one of those moments that you’ve experienced and how you overcame it?
Brian Waters (17:32)
You bet, yeah, I love this conversation. And I think this is kind of a forgotten art in this world. Again, back to the social media thing, you’re gonna hear people, they’re always gonna talk about what? talking about their wins. And it’s cool, but sometimes there’s this false sense of what we’re actually doing and what the problems are. And so, ⁓ I like to start off my group calls with not only the wins, but tell me your losses, because I think people could learn more from their losses than not, right? So ⁓ the biggest one for me is I…I recently bought a wholesale deal. ⁓ I’m sorry, was a deal off the MLS in Detroit. I was going to be doing the whole BRRRR strategy with it. ⁓ for those that don’t know what that means, that’s the buy ⁓ rehab rent refinance repeat. It’s just a way to get your kind of capital back. So I bought it and before I did, there was a tenant in place and we looked over the rent rolls and she was ⁓
you know, had this amazing documentation about her paying rent. So I was buying it with a renter in place, knowing that, and a long conversation with the owner. She had multiple properties in the area and it turns out, ⁓ you know, I kind of got lied to when ⁓ I was expecting this amazing tenant section eight to be there. And the day I closed, I called to introduce myself as the new owner and see what it is that that tenant could need and what, how I could make her situation better. And if there’s just one to kind of, you know, introduce myself.
And the first thing she said to me was, oh, so I’m not being evicted? And my heart just dropped.
I’m like, what do mean you’re not being evicted? She goes, oh, I just got out of court today. I haven’t been paying rent for the past six months. And I was just like, oh, okay. So unfortunately I was lied to by the seller, which the broker and the agent can get in a lot of trouble for that for falsifying stuff. And I called the seller back that day and I asked her,
what’s going on and she literally told me, she goes, if I would have told you she wasn’t paying a rent, you would not have purchased this property. And I was like, mind boggled. I’m like, so you lied to me? That’s wild. That’s crazy. So, you my thoughts were how do I handle this? And I truly believe for every single problem, these are what we like to call in our community, like tuition. This is a, it’s a, sometimes it could be high dollar stuff you’re learning and, you’re paying to learn this stuff, right? So I won’t make that mistake again, but. ⁓
You know, the way I solved it is I just, I already had a really good team there and I got, ⁓ I started the eviction papers right away. It took her a little while to get out. And the cool thing is right when I was planning to keep it as a rental for section eight, I did a quick remodel on it. I refinanced, pulled all my money out and found a really good tenant. So there’s always a way to solve the problems. You just can’t quit, right? ⁓ And why sometimes these communities are helpful because everyone’s made mistakes. ⁓ But.
I like to share those because if I can help any person that’s listening to this, make sure you’re reading contracts. We get these notaries come over and there’s thousands of pages, we just sign them, right? ⁓ I think looking to mistakes from other people are gonna help us be better and I’m more than willing to share them. That’s what I do every week in my community. And I’m not perfect, I will continue to make them, I guarantee it. That’s just part of the business. You have to have thick skin in order to get through this. But everything is solvable.
and you will get through it and then you’re going to be a better investor, better business person on the other end of that.
Michelle Kesil (21:00)
Yeah, absolutely. I love that. think these types of lessons are what get you geared for like the long term vision of like seeing them as things that are on your path for you to overcome versus seeing it as the obstacle that makes you give up.So when it comes to growing your business and creating new relationships, expanding your network, what are some things that have made the biggest difference for you?
Brian Waters (21:33)
As far as how I network myself.Michelle Kesil (21:37)
Be out.Brian Waters (21:39)
Yeah, so ⁓ one thing is I talk about real estate all the time. think that’s ⁓ people may get a little annoyed by that, but I’m super passionate about it. One thing early on I did and I advise all people in this, if they’re trying to get into real estate or they’re trying to become, have a business early on, however silly it is, like get social media. Social media is the new thing. That’s the new advertisement. could be free. So what I started doing early on is documenting my journey. would,I would document what it is I’m doing. I was at the park and I was so embarrassed. I’m sitting there filming myself and I probably recorded it 20 times because I felt like an idiot. And I posted, hey, ⁓ today I’m starting my real estate journey. Follow me for more. And you’d be surprised at how many people are just in your warm circle. They’re going to reach out. They’re nosy. People are nosy by nature, right? So ⁓ the more and more I started doing that and started posting wins and losses and all that stuff, I would get people coming out of the woodworks. So instead of me being that
that annoying person that’s like trying to beg people to come join me on my journey, they wanted to be part of it. Because they’re like, hey, I never knew you were in real estate. I’m an agent and this is someone from college, know? And you’re like, all of a this network starts to kind of have this like, starts breathing right in front of you. And you’d be surprised at how many people are not only interested in it, but have some connection. And I think one thing I love about real estate in general is I’ve had different businesses in the past. They could be very cutthroat, but.
Real estate, everyone could win. Like here I am on your podcast and I appreciate it. You don’t need to do this for me, right? It’s something that you guys are passionate about sharing people’s journeys and you know, like I wanna be able to reciprocate that to other people. So like there’s so many ways to win, but I guess you just have to start putting yourself out there. Don’t be afraid to make calls. Don’t be afraid to go on social media and comment on someone. Hey, I’m also in Tennessee. What can I do to help you? And if you help someone else’s business.
the world will circulate back around to you. I guarantee it. That’s this business 101 and you will, everyone could thrive together. Everyone could make money. And ultimately I think that’s just important. Just be helpful first and it’ll come back around you.
Michelle Kesil (23:50)
Yeah, I love that. That service and value mindset is so important. So thank you. And before we wrap up here, if someone wants to reach out, connect, learn more from you, where can they find you?Brian Waters (24:05)
Yeah, so you could find me on code3invest.com. It’s the number three or mr.brian.waters on any of the socials. ⁓ You’ll see my phone number posted on there. Again, I pride myself on that communication. ⁓ It is actually me. If you message me, it is actually me you’re talking to. And so ⁓ I offer free one hour consult. And I don’t care if you have zero experience, if you’re super knowledgeable. I love this stuff. I love to be able to connect. If I could help you.great if not I could steer you into other communities like your guys’s community that I that they would be a great fit for everyone needs to find their little their little tribe and ⁓ so yeah hit me up I’m always available love doing it and I’d love to to to connect with anyone that’s interested in out-of-state stuff I don’t care if you’re a first responder or not I think ⁓ I think I I could help you in either way
Michelle Kesil (24:58)
Amazing. Well, I really appreciate your time, your story and your perspective. So thank you for being here.Brian Waters (25:06)
Thank you, yeah, think it was really nice getting to know you and you guys really do a good thing, so I appreciate you.Michelle Kesil (25:12)
Amazing. And for those tuning into the show, if you got value from this, make sure you’ve subscribed. We have more conversations with operators just like Brian, who are building real businesses. And we’ll see you all on our next episode.
