Why Real Estate Investing Needs Better Systems, Checklists & Processes | Matt Hetlage

Matt Hetlage (00:00)
to be fully transparent, we went negative on. And ⁓ that’s that’s the lesson that I learned last year was that time is my most valuable asset. It’s not cash, it’s not nothing, it’s time. And what do I want to do spending that time is ⁓ do I wanna do a renovation that gets us negative money? Obviously not. And that’s where I think for me having those checklists where if we can go down

just some form of organizational chart that you can work with a ⁓ contractor or something, just having you work together with the contractor will allow for just so many less oversights or missteps.

Scott Bursey (02:12)
Welcome back to the Real Estate Pros podcast powered by Investor Fuel. I’m your host, Scott Bursey And today we’re sitting down with Matt Hetlage of FuSeBOx RE. Matt is a 10-year United States Air Force veteran who turned his operational discipline and leadership into a dynamic real estate investment firm. Pros expect a masterclass on transitioning military precision into the renovation and rental game.

And how Matt Hetlage is building a new vision to bridge the gap between traditional brokerages and custom real estate solutions. Matt, welcome to the show.

Matt Hetlage (02:52)
Thanks, Scott. Thanks for having me so much. I appreciate it.

Scott Bursey (02:54)
It’s just awesome having you here, my friend. And to help our listeners get up to speed. Please give us the ninety second highlight reel, if you will, of how your career ignited and where you’re pouring your fuel now.

Matt Hetlage (03:07)
Yeah. So being in the military, I was always looking for kind of like that additional revenue stream, kind of what am I gonna do after the military? And real estate, something in real estate was always on my mind. And investing was the first thing that I started. And I started it with my father in law and just with his knowledge of the real estate and everything like that, me and him.

We’re able to get into ⁓ quite a few doors ⁓ with investing in real estate. We had some long term rentals, had some short term rentals, and ⁓ really now I’m just looking to pour myself and make myself a resource to help those that are trying to do the same thing. And I can help and and show them maybe some of the pitfalls that I

Scott Bursey (03:47)
That’s an incredible journey, Matt. Thanks for sharing that with the pros. And what really caught my attention about you was the way that you’ve been able to take that high-level military operational discipline and seamlessly apply it to the messy, unpredictable nature of real estate acquisition and renovation. And on that note, you know, looking at those early days, Matt.

How did your first few months transitioning out of the Air Force completely shift your perspective on what truly constitutes risk in the business world?

Matt Hetlage (04:21)
Well, for any any military people that are listening, I’m sure you’re fully aware of how many checklists there are in the military and just how organized ⁓ it is, right? So whenever I got out of the military, one of the first things I saw in real estate, I mean agents are I didn’t there hasn’t really been an agent that I’ve worked with that hasn’t been just great. But if I ever wanted to do it on my own, it was a little disorganized.

There were no checklist it was like not a whole lot of guidance, not really too much. And I don’t know if it was set up to be like that, but I just know for myself, ⁓ it felt a little unorganized and chaotic. And I just wanted to kind of make that easier for myself, basically.

Scott Bursey (05:03)
That’s a powerful perspective shift. And curious to know, Matt, how your Air Force training specifically dictates your decision making when you’re under the gun during a renovation.

Matt Hetlage (06:02)
Well, that’s so we actually had one last year that ⁓ to be fully transparent, we went negative on. And ⁓ that’s that’s the lesson that I learned last year was that time is my most valuable asset. It’s not cash, it’s not nothing, it’s time. And what do I want to do spending that time is ⁓ do I wanna do a renovation that gets us negative money? Obviously not. And that’s where I think for me having those checklists where if we can go down

just some form of organizational chart that you can work with a ⁓ contractor or something, just having you work together with the contractor will allow for just so many less oversights or missteps.

You know, it’s it’s a lot more communication. ⁓ and I feel like just because it was a little bit more chaotic on that side, for me I feel like coming in and and trying to consolidate a lot of that confusion is

My purpose now.

Scott Bursey (07:01)
And we’re interested to hear how you manage the specific chaos of being a work from home father while scaling an investment company.

Matt Hetlage (07:10)
Well, I will say last year was difficult. ⁓ it’s it it that’s when I realized time was my currency that I need to work for because working from home, I really need to make sure that like I’m taking the time to reflect and and show my children what it is to work from home, what that looks like and everything. And so last year was difficult and I just had to kind of put my head down and we had to get the

rental that went negative, we had to get that off the books. So we just kinda had to put our nose down and and grind through it. ⁓ because I wasn’t gonna take shortcuts. It was I’m gonna take the loss, but I want to make sure this product that I’m giving is at least up to standard that I have. And ⁓ but it took a toll on me personally. And that’s where I think the shift in focus to time and making sure I’m spending my time appropriately is the best lesson I learned last year.

Scott Bursey (08:00)
What’s your number one tip, Matt, for keeping your focus when the host gets loud?

Matt Hetlage (08:05)
grounding yourself in what you believe you would want to see at the end of that ⁓ I guess job, right? So would you live in that house? Would you be accepting of buying that for that price? You know, a lot of the stuff that I’ve seen, ⁓ you know, I’ve I’ve toured rental properties to

see if we wanted to buy them and some of the conditions that these rental properties are in and the conditions that some of these tenants are living in, to me personally is a little unacceptable. And so I just want to make sure that I know what I want and that gives me a clear true north for that project.

Scott Bursey (08:47)
Well, thank you for highlighting that. And we’d love to get your take on your vision for bridging the gap between traditional full service brokerages and tailored solutions. Why is that needed now, in your view?

Matt Hetlage (09:01)
Well, we actually I I lived in Georgia before this and there was a pretty solid foresale by market ⁓ or foresale by owner market out there. And with that we actually found a property. we purchased it all ourselves, no agents involved at all. And it was so jumbled up that that was one of the main reasons why we developed a platform that can kind of help streamline that whole process and give tools.

that would allow you to be competitive while marketing your property. And that’s that was kind of our FSBO FuSeBOx, capital FSBO. That was the whole goal behind it, is just to make that a more streamlined process.

Scott Bursey (09:41)
Matt, ⁓ what’s the biggest resistance you face from traditional brokerages?

Matt Hetlage (10:21)
well I think the you have independent brokerages, you have small a like smaller agents and stuff like that. They look at this as like a companion piece, a tool that they can use. The bigger brokerages, they’ll look at this as a threat, potentially. I mean, it’s only five to seven percent of the market is FSBO, but there’s probably some spillage there that we can take into account. And then with this, you know, the FSBO market is kind of one of the more

time consuming markets and you don’t necessarily get as much out of it when working as an agent, right? You so it’s it’s kind of one of those where they’re looking at it like, is that worth the time? And for me it is just because I feel like I can really develop a streamlined process and help a lot of people. Brokerages, they feel like they have their process and it’s all streamlined and they can help people. So it’s just kind of that whose process works better.

Scott Bursey (11:14)
And staying on that path, where do you see FuSeBOx RE in the next, let’s say, twelve to twenty-four months?

Matt Hetlage (11:22)
Well, to 24 months, I would like to have ⁓ a nationwide marketing so we have a nationwide capability. We’re scalable nationwide, deliverables set up for now North and South California, just because that’s where I’m at, and ⁓ cost money to so with that though, I would like to see some international and overseas properties on there as well. I have a lot of military friends that have been stationed overseas, a lot of investment opportunities overseas.

And with the marketing, it’s always been kind of a challenge to where do I look for overseas properties? You know, you got right move for the UK and stuff like that, but it’s not in one spot. I would like to make FuSeBOx a one stop one stop shop.

Scott Bursey (12:01)
That’s awesome. What perspective. And please walk us through this, Matt. How do you protect your portfolio against the inherent volatility in the short term rental market today?

Matt Hetlage (12:13)
That is a good question. We we actually had a short-term rental and I I worked it as an Airbnb. And so we did that for a full year. I got the full feel of what that looks like, the coordination, the repairs, the cleaning and all that. And the the the the breakdown, the net that we received after that, again, wasn’t worth the time. And so we converted it to a long term.

And with that, there’s other short term rental properties that are popping up in the area that kind of have that constant turnover. Where for us, I guess, if that’s what you’re referencing, it kind of creates a more difficult ⁓ I guess way to comp and see what we can get and rents and and it just makes it a little bit harder to locate kind of what we can compare ourselves to.

Scott Bursey (13:03)
Understood. And Matt, if somebody’s listening and they’re thinking, hey, this is somebody that I really like and perhaps would like to partner with, what would you like them to know first about your operation?

Matt Hetlage (13:14)
So my operation is it’s it’s a you know, just like I said before, the rental properties that I went and looked at where the conditions that they were living in weren’t up to my standard and the you know, you just you start feeling like a lot of that money what’s the money going towards? You know, like where where is the money going? Is it going back into the company? Is it going into the pockets? Are we putting it in the roof later? you know, where is it going? And for me, ⁓ I just i anybody that

wants to get to know me, it’s I I’m always trying to do right by the people that I’m working for, working with. And so I would never let a rental property get into a condition that I wouldn’t want to live in. And it’s the same for my business. I’m not going to try to take a bunch of money from somebody and not provide them with a quality service. I want to provide quality service and I have goals and I have lanes that I want to take once I start receiving the income.

I already have avenues that I want to take it. So I’m not going to just be collecting and then what am I going to do with it? I have goals and aspirations for many more things to come.

Scott Bursey (14:16)
And Matt, when it comes to your acquisition strategy, what metric are you looking at that most other investors may be overlooking right now?

Matt Hetlage (15:05)
you know, smaller markets, I would say are a big that’s a big one for me. Smaller markets, you know, the appreciation isn’t as high as you would find in some other markets. You know, you might be looking at smaller markets, but like for example, the one that I was in in Georgia, appreciation’s a little bit slower. But man, is it affordable? And and the rents there and stuff, I mean, it’s it might not be that 1% that we saw in like the 2020, 2021, but I mean, we’re getting

We’re getting to the point where it’s a it’s a realistic thing that most people, as long as they’re risk tolerant, you know, you can get into something like this and actually change your life for the better.

Scott Bursey (15:40)
Digging a bit deeper, what does your professional network look like right now?

Matt Hetlage (15:45)
professional network is I have a few agents that I’m working. I’m I I’m at a brokerage here in California. We have a Southern California brokerage. I’m working exclusively with my father in law. And so we’re kind of trying to take over, I believe it’s fifty-six counties in California, just so we can provide deliverables for that. And now we have networking within Georgia, Missouri, we have Nebraska, we have Texas, we have

a few other states that were growing and so that way we’re gonna begin having deliverables in those locations as well. Marketing across the states, hopefully in the international space as well. But you know, more to come hopefully.

Scott Bursey (16:22)
That’s a solid foundation. Thanks for walking us through that, Matt. And really you walked us through a lot of really good insight here today. But is there any additional advice, Matt, that you could leave with our pros?

Matt Hetlage (16:35)
one of the things is not not that it’s for me I’ve been looking a lot into like estate planning and building wealth through real estate. And one of the things I’ve discovered is with estate planning, how can we recycle the money back into the family, right? So one of the things that I’ve been looking into is like how can I take real estate and make that a a a very wealth building

scenario for myself and my family and not just I buy real estate and I sell it to somebody else. How do I keep that in and just keep it recycling? And that would be not outsourcing, you know, once the money starts coming in, putting that back in and then using that for my family. So if I had a rental property in my estate, I could rent that back to a family member, ⁓ anybody like that. And we can set it up just like a mortgage and now everything’s recycling back in. And that’s

kind of the that’s the moleane that I’m looking into now. Real estate investing and how can I build that into wealth, generational wealth and long term wealth.

Scott Bursey (17:38)
That’s some solid advice. Thank you for that, Matt. And Matt, for those of our listeners that want to keep this conversation moving, stay in your lane or collaborate with you on future deals, what’s the best way for them to to reach you?

Matt Hetlage (17:52)
Well, I officially now have all my social media ⁓ accounts set up. So absolutely hit me up on Facebook, Instagram. I have a LinkedIn as well. And it should all just be first name, last name. I try to keep it simple, just even for myself. And ⁓ yeah, on on FuSeBOx you have the ability to send us an email. we have support team, we have a phone number listed there. I mean, there’s multiple ways. You can shoot me a text, email, anything you want. I’d I’d love to respond and provide any insight.

Scott Bursey (18:19)
Thank you for joining us here today, Matt. This has been a great conversation.

Matt Hetlage (18:23)
Yes, it has. Thank you.

Scott Bursey (18:24)
And to our listeners, we appreciate you. If you receive value from today’s episode, please subscribe. We’ll be filling your tanks with a lineup of elite guests just like Matt, who are accelerating and setting the pace for the rest of the industry. Until next time, keep your standards high and your vision clear. We’ll see you in the next episode, everyone.