Unlock Your Real Estate Success: 5 Life Lessons from a Mentor

Michael Stansbury (00:02.368)
Hello everybody and welcome to the Real Estate Pros Podcast. I’m Mike Stansbury and today I have a special guest all the way from California, Thomas Chappell Jr. How are you sir?

Thomas F Chappell Jr (00:10.542)
You

I’m doing fine. Thank you for asking. I do appreciate you pronouncing the name correctly.

Michael Stansbury (00:18.806)
Well, you know what? I had a couple options there and I could have butchered it pretty well. But real quick, we have to pay the bill. So at Invest Your Fuel, we help real estate investors, service providers, and real estate entrepreneurs 2 to 5X their business to allow them to build the businesses they’ve always wanted and allow them to live the lives they’ve always dreamed of. Thomas, tell us a little bit about your origin story. How did you get started in real estate? What were you doing before? then kind of what?

you know, what sets you on the path of, of, you know, educating people in real estate, doing deals. What’s that look like?

Thomas F Chappell Jr (00:54.018)
Well, what got me into real estate, it was the fact that I was able to spend time with my son. I was a single dad, you know, as I was growing up, I didn’t finish high school. I went to junior college and I screwed that off. And then I had kids and had child support issues and things like that. So here I am in my late forties and I’m like corporate America is not going to accept me anymore. let me do something. So I heard a, was living in Vegas at the time and I heard the commercial about

fortune builders. So I said okay I’ve been hearing about it so this is not the first time so let me go check it out see if they really serious or not. So I went to the two-hour thing and all it was was selling you to come and pay for to come today three days. So I paid the 200 bucks it was 197 and I went and I learned a lot out of it but I just never joined. They wanted 25,000 at the time and I had it but I said nah I don’t think

so I ended up moving to California so when I got to California I googled investors and true story

One guy came up didn’t know who he was and the next one was about the Norris group. Didn’t know anything about Norris and didn’t know anything about Bruce Norris and things like that. I asked the reception who can I speak to about investing and she gave me Aaron Norris. And I spoke to Aaron Norris for 45 minutes and if you get to talk to me more you know I like the sound of my own voice. So I did all the talking. So Aaron Norris listened to me for 45 minutes and he says I really don’t have a pro

Michael Stansbury (02:28.726)
That’s it.

Thomas F Chappell Jr (02:35.056)
I can’t take you up under my wing, but I got somebody for you. And that’s what started my launch my career in real estate. So I’ve had dozens of mentors that groomed me into this to have me to become what I am and made me want to be able to teach because coming from my background, like I said, didn’t finish school, didn’t think I was going to be amount to anything and seeing what I can accomplish here. That’s why I love teaching.

Michael Stansbury (03:01.718)
That’s great. So you were curious about real estate and you went to a seminar, but you were like, you know, if there’s something else I’m going to be, I’m going to stay curious. I’m going to find out who’s doing the investing. And this is a nugget for our listeners. So many people just listen to podcasts.

and they listen and they listen, they never take action, but you’re the type of person that took action and was like, I need a mentor. And that mentor you said led to other mentors. So with that being said, as you’re going through on this journey, what are some of the things that you learned that were some aha moments and maybe some mentors, maybe some what different mentors taught you at different times during your real estate and teaching career?

Thomas F Chappell Jr (03:23.31)
Bye.

Thomas F Chappell Jr (03:45.526)
Well, the biggest part is that

Believing in myself, you know because you got to understand when you have that mentality that You don’t matter and nobody’s gonna take a take a chance on you and you hearing well, okay You can use other people’s money. You’re like, okay. Yeah, right for real When that came into fruition that made me become a believer based on that fact because I wasn’t sure because I’m like Who’s gonna trust me with their money? I said, I know how I was back in the day with money, you know, I didn’t

know squander lit but the fact is I’ve always had myself in debt. So it’s like now somebody that I don’t know Showed me how I can achieve a goal and that’s when that aha moment came in and that’s where I was just I drunk the Kool-Aid

Michael Stansbury (04:36.756)
Right. Yeah. So you had that moment where you learned about other people’s money and then you were able to say, hey, I’ll be a fiduciary. I can take care of that. And so you did that. And yeah, tell us about a couple of deals that you’ve done and the success on that or just something maybe creative. I’ll let this be a choose your own adventure, Thomas. But tell us a fun story about a deal that you’ve done in real estate and what you learned from it.

Thomas F Chappell Jr (05:03.586)
Well, one of the biggest deals is that…

I started off wholesaling like most of the people do because you really didn’t have any funds and my first wholesale deal I teamed up with this gentleman. He said okay fine. So he saw it. He liked it said oh You’re gonna get five grand. I’m gonna give you five grams. So Stoke you gonna get five grand, but when the dust settle I got $2,500 now it’s pretty peeved not because of the money it’s because he kept telling me I’m getting five grand and he turned around and gave me 25 so what I told myself at the

the time is that this is not the last time I’m gonna see that kind of money. Now, 2500 is not a lot of money, but when you don’t have money, it makes it become a lot of money. So that was one of the things that I did and I found out how my investors buy and what they buy, because it took me two years. When I found out what they buy and how they buy, man, I was putting out offers anywhere between 100 and 200.

Thomas F Chappell Jr (06:36.706)
already 50 years old, corporate America’s not gonna take me, so this is my last resort. You know, at the time, my son was 11 years old. You know, so I had to do this because I had nowhere else to go.

Michael Stansbury (06:50.678)
So yeah, so that’s a good driver of things gotta happen and then I’ve gotta make it happen. But you did what most people are, they miss this step is you have to begin with the end in mind. Who is your end buyer? You focused on what they wanted and you started making offers on those properties and you got deals to the table, is how you get the ball in the end zone. So as you’re doing that, then.

Thomas F Chappell Jr (07:14.868)
Exactly.

Michael Stansbury (07:18.526)
you get a love for teaching people. So tell us about that. What kind of student would do really well with you? Tell us about your love for teaching about real estate to other individuals. Is it more of a mentor or do you have a paid program or what’s that look like?

Thomas F Chappell Jr (07:38.496)
It’s more of a mentor. I mean, I get a kick out of watching how people really shine when they figure out something. You know, I want to do this, but you’re really not sure how to go by it, because anybody can show you or teach you, but it’s really up to you. And then knowing, because I coach sports, so that’s one of my loves of teaching. And when you watch a person blossom,

You don’t expect it to be exactly like you but least you instilled a part of yourself into them and watched them blossom. It makes you want to do it more and the basis of it is not only do I teach real estate but I teach life. Because we all have challenges in life and the fact of the matter is being able to overcome. You know what I’m saying? That’s one of my biggest things is believing in the Heavenly Father and being able to live my truth.

That’s one thing that I do. I tell my truth. I’m not afraid of the moment anymore. I used to be, but no longer.

Michael Stansbury (08:44.566)
So, okay, you made the connection to sports. I gotta ask, because sometimes we go in different directions on this podcast. So, what is the sport that you loved coaching the most?

Thomas F Chappell Jr (08:57.366)
it was football and track. wasn’t that great at b-ball, basketball, but I played it. know, but football and track is my love. Actually, I did want to, once upon a time, become a professional football player. I actually went to a professional tryout camp, you know, and got my name in the paper, front page of a local newspaper. So that was achieving goal in itself, and I never expected something like that. So yes, I love it.

Michael Stansbury (09:25.302)
That’s awesome. Alright, so are you still, do you still like the professional college football? What is your preference there?

Thomas F Chappell Jr (09:32.288)
It’s all professional college. I has too many teams. I can’t do it. It’s too many.

Michael Stansbury (09:36.992)
You know, every time I meet somebody from California that’s a football fan, that’s kind of their mantra. They like the pros. then, you know, we’re SEC country over here. And so everybody loves college football a lot more than the NFL. I’m sure that there’s a lot of just rabid NFL fans around here. The closest that we have is, well, the Tennessee Titans and Nashville. But we have a lot of college football fans. But I am the same way. I think that real estate is a full contact sport.

and you constantly have to be motivated, you have to be coached up, and you have to do the fundamentals, you know, every day. And I think that you’re, I like that you are liking this to sports because, you know, there’s really no secret sauce in this stuff. It’s just, you gotta do the fundamentals.

Thomas F Chappell Jr (10:25.646)
And the one thing people don’t understand is what I found out coming up. Your network is your net worth. So the more you network, and it doesn’t have to just be to real estate. It can be anything in life because the more you network, you find out there’s people that be willing to invest into your dream. You know what I’m saying? I tell people when I mentor them,

Michael Stansbury (10:36.244)
Right?

Michael Stansbury (10:51.327)
Right.

Thomas F Chappell Jr (10:55.65)
seen the show Shark Tank. He said, yeah. I said, okay, then understand somebody brought a product to them and they’re taking a gamble on investing into your product. Now, not all the agree to invest in your product, but somebody there believes it. It just takes one. It don’t have to be all of them. It could just be one and you can become successful as long as you have the plan in place. That’s the key.

Michael Stansbury (11:25.526)
Yeah, I find that to be true, especially when you’re using other people’s money in real estate, when you have a deal and you know somebody that in your network, right? And they have maybe a good bit of capital and they wanna invest it, they wanna put it in things that have a return. And if they know you and they trust you and they like you and the deal works, then you’ll never have a problem with finding money for deals.

Thomas F Chappell Jr (11:50.795)
Dice Absolute, Hooray!

Michael Stansbury (11:53.974)
Because, know, especially, and again the linchpin is, are you going to do what you say you’re going do? Are you going to perform? the asset going to perform? But you’re right. Your net worth is your net worth. Right? I struggle with it too. But it’s absolutely true. So, we mentioned earlier, you’re in the California market. What is the California market? What cities have you invested in before?

Kind of what’s the lay of the land look like right now?

Thomas F Chappell Jr (12:25.516)
Well, I’m in the Inland Empire, so basically, you know, when you got contractors, you don’t want to take them outside of their comfort area because then they’ll leave you if you got a good contractor. You know, so I was staying in the Inland Empire, you know. Now, I used to live in Atlanta, Georgia, so I do know the Tennessee area, you know. I’m originally from Bronx, New York, South Bronx, New York, and my mother moved us from New York, and then she moved us to the Los Angeles. I hated LA, so I left LA.

and moved to Phoenix and I left Phoenix, moved to Vegas, left Vegas, moved to Atlanta and then came back to Vegas and now I’m back in California and Riverside. And I’ve never been in the military, you know? I know people, yeah. But the fact is is that I had to find my place of peace.

Michael Stansbury (13:06.932)
Yeah, that’s a lot of moving for non-military, right?

Thomas F Chappell Jr (13:17.324)
You know what saying? When I was young, I had no choice, but I wanted my place of peace in this world so I can be successful in spite of all of my hoops and hurdles that I had to come over to overcome. And that’s one of the things. So when I got here, it’s been a blessing. I’ve already been on that entrepreneur mind, but really my boots on the ground was here where I ended up writing a book and they told me I’m dyslexic and not a good reader.

How am I able to accomplish these things? And then now, my fiance and I just started a non-profit, you know, where we’re gonna be giving back and helping foster kids that are already transitioning out of the system to help them become homeowners by the time they’re 25 and 30 years old.

Michael Stansbury (14:06.25)
Wow, so that’s interesting. So you’re giving back when it comes to foster kids, especially you can imagine growing up in that type of environment and not having any stability what a house, what knowing what a house can do or what home ownership can help, you know, provide a foundation for those kids as they grow up. That’s really, really neat. So Thomas, where?

Can people find you? Actually, I actually want to talk about this. You did a radio show for a while. Did you do that in Atlanta or in your market now or where did that exist at?

Thomas F Chappell Jr (14:39.156)
It existed here in California. The show was in radio station, was in Redlands, California. And a young lady, her name was Marie, she came to me and said, I would like for you to do this. And I’m like, I don’t know. But she came back again and I did it. And the one thing is like, well, you’re to have to pay for your own slot. You I’m like, you want me to do your show, but I got to pay for my own slot. But the funny part was she says, well,

If you go ahead and get your your guest to pay that you won’t have to worry about it so I did it for two years and I enjoyed it it was the best thing that ever happened to me and It’s called it was called the real men of real estate Hosted by me Thomas F Chappell Jr. You can Google me you can go on road crew and look at my previous shows you can go on

Amazon, what’s it, Amazon? No, Apple Television as well as to YouTubes, you can find the show. Also, I have a real estate investment club which is on Hyades. It’s called Black Inland Empire Real Estate Investment Club. Well, Inland Empire is where I’m at and the reason why it’s called Black because I’m the Black host who hosts it, but everybody’s been invited. So it’s been very, very successful and everything like that.

Michael Stansbury (15:37.631)
Right?

Thomas F Chappell Jr (16:02.506)
So those are the things that I have done in real estate. And my whole point is, that since I became what I became, I want to give back and give others the same opportunities to realize what their potential is that they can become the very best version of themselves. No matter how old you are.

Michael Stansbury (16:19.814)
Awesome. So no matter how, listen, it’s never over until you’re dead. Come on. And then it just begins for some people. Well, here it is. So the Real Men and Real Estate Talk. So tell me about maybe a guest on your show that was a fun guest or a fun story from that time as a radio host. Do you remember somebody that was just kind of, wow, that was out there?

Thomas F Chappell Jr (16:26.862)
Well, exactly!

Thomas F Chappell Jr (16:44.91)
Well, no, because all of them were. I had some people break down and start crying because of reminiscing because the things that I asked. And the one thing I’ve always asked before the show ended was if you can go back and talk to yourself when you were younger, what would you tell yourself? You know, because everybody grows up and want to become something. And some that go to college, they get their degree.

And then eventually they not even working in that degrees position. They work in doing something totally different. And now they angry because they’re not doing what they really wanted to do. You know what saying? So that’s one of the things I asked is that if you had the opportunity to go back and talk to your younger self, what would you tell it? You know, and that’s, that’s where I, that’s the most funnest thing I did, you know, cause all these people brought something different to the table. So I can’t just pinpoint one.

you

Michael Stansbury (17:41.8)
Right, so you drew them out, you drew their childhood out and that’s always nostalgic and yeah, I could see how it can, you know, bring out of emotion. So, let me ask you this, Thomas, what would you say to yourself at eight years old?

Thomas F Chappell Jr (17:59.51)
tell myself, you know what, I’m going to be great. You know why? Because coming up from where I came up, I mean, we all got that story. You know, we all of us didn’t have a silver spoon in our mouths, whether we did or didn’t, but.

There was tragedy that happened in your life. Whether you had both parents or a single parent, there was always some form of tragedy. And then you got peer pressure. When you get older, peer pressure is a big thing in life. And we end up doing things that we wouldn’t normally do. You know what I’m saying? So I was raised by a single mother that was a very strong woman. I don’t drink, I don’t smoke. You know what saying? So my only…

Michael Stansbury (18:38.954)
Was that because of her influence or was she just ran a tight ship like that or what do you ascribe that to?

Thomas F Chappell Jr (18:46.414)
That’s both. She ran a tight ship and also she was, it was the influence part, you know? And the thing is, is I saw a lot of stuff that happened in other people’s lives and I said, I don’t want that. You know I’m saying? So that’s one of the biggest things is, but,

The thing is, like I said, it made me become a better person. I knew I had a lot of drive in me, but because I didn’t feel like I had the right criteria, I was a failure. And not knowing that later on down in life that this would occur. It’s basically when I was ready to hear the voice of God when I changed. Back then when I was younger, I was young, dumb and stupid. Didn’t want to hear, just have fun, party, chase girls.

and see what that got me. You know what saying? So the biggest thing is I finally listened and my son came in my life and I said, I don’t want him to be like me. I want him to supersede me. You know what I’m saying? So the only way he can do that is that I embrace. So when I got into real estate, he was young. I brought him to the table with me. So he saw me make deals. He saw me raise money. He saw me make money. So now he knows what that looks like.

to where he can become anything he wants to. I told him I don’t want you to follow in my footsteps. I want you to be whatever you want. I support it, but supersede me by any means necessary.

Michael Stansbury (20:16.502)
Thomas that’s great and I think that’s a really fantastic way to kind of wind this thing down is that you’re doing this thing for your kid, for your son, to propel him and you know I always talked about, I always thought it was interesting that our culture says yeah you want to follow in the footsteps of your parents and your parents want you to be, they want you to go further.

further on, they don’t want you to be behind you, they want you to be way in front. So I think that’s neat, that’s what’s motivating you. hey Thomas, where can everybody find out more about you online? I know about the, you’ve got the radio show that’s online, the old backup episodes are, but how else can we find you online?

Thomas F Chappell Jr (20:43.306)
Exactly.

Thomas F Chappell Jr (21:03.052)
Well, you can…

Google me, I hate social media, but you can find me on social media. Or you can just contact me directly by emailing me at thomaschappell33 at yahoo.com. Once again, that’s T-H-O-M-A-S. C like Charles, H like Harry, A like Apple, P like Paul, P like Paul, E like Edward, L like Larry, L like Larry, 33 at yahoo.com. Or you can contact me at area code 404-844-1828.

area code 404-844-1828. I love talking real estate all day so don’t don’t matter just call me up and we can chit chat. If you local we can meet somewhere if not I love to talk abroad. I know a lot of people all over the world I have great mentors that I can recommend you to. I do a thing called barter trading you know if you know about barter trading I do that you know I do a whole lot of things and

that I would never imagine that I would be doing if I hadn’t gotten into real estate.

Michael Stansbury (22:10.454)
Yeah, it’s the gateway drug, isn’t it, to entrepreneurship? Well, Thomas, thank you for being part of the Real Estate Pros podcast. Folks, like and subscribe and we’ll see you next time.

Thomas F Chappell Jr (22:22.094)
Appreciate you. Thank you.