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Show Summary
In this episode of the Real Estate Pros Podcast, host Micah Johnson speaks with Lew Dalupang, a successful real estate investor who shares his journey from being let go from a corporate job to building multiple businesses across real estate, healthcare, and lending. Lew breaks down his approach to investing, emphasizing the importance of setting clear personal goals, building strong relationships, and learning from mistakes. He also talks about shifting his focus from simply acquiring properties to creating sustainable passive income. The conversation dives into the mindset required for long-term success and why clarity of goals is essential for building a real estate business that actually supports your life.
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Lew A Dalupang (00:01)
so I learned that, you know, it’s really, it starts by really having that clear definition in your mind. Like, I really don’t want this to happen to me and my family again. I gave 17 years of my life and they’re just gonna, you know, dispose me like a tissue box. So that one like motivated me. That’s the one that really, you know, pushed me to be where I am now.Micah Johnson (01:58)
Hello everyone. Welcome to the Real Estate Pros Podcast. I’m your host, Micah Johnson. And today I’m speaking with Lew who’s been making some serious moves in real estate investing since 2020. Lew, welcome in, man. Glad to have you.Lew A Dalupang (02:10)
Hey, thank you very much. A cold welcome here from the Garden State of New Jersey.Micah Johnson (02:14)
I heard that man. Y’all got 20 inches of snow on the ground. It’s wild up there right now.Lew A Dalupang (02:20)
Yeah, the blizzard was something else manMicah Johnson (02:23)
Yeah, it’s my in-laws got bombed by it too. Well, I’m excited for our call today. You’ve got an interesting journey in real estate. Heck, an interesting journey to America, the multiple businesses you own. I think our listeners and viewers are going to get a lot of value out of just the way you approach what you’re doing, making sure you’re actually creating that life you want, which is what we all get in this industry for anyways. So let’s dive in there. For folks who may not be familiar with you yet, tell us, you know, what’s your main focus these days and what markets you operate in?Lew A Dalupang (02:52)
Sure, sure. Thank you so much for having me here. It’s an honor to be here. I am humbled to be here. So right now I have three businesses, I’m operating three businesses. I have my real estate. I usually focus on buy and hold, but I’m doing flips now. And then I own a ⁓ home care agency. ⁓ We provide personal and companion care, mostly to the elderly. Because my background is I’ve been in healthcare for maybe like 25 years.Micah Johnson (03:22)
Okay.Lew A Dalupang (03:22)
And yeah, and then I also have a small lending company. I’m a consumer lender here in the state of New Jersey. And then I have two teenage daughters. So that’s already a full-time job. ⁓ those are the things that’s keeping me busy and going every single day.Micah Johnson (03:39)
Love that man, love that. you got to, when you came from the Philippines, you said, when did you get into America?Lew A Dalupang (03:47)
Goodness, that was in June of 2002. I came here with $200 in my pocket and my suitcase and just like my vision of what I want to do. That’s all.Micah Johnson (03:52)
Okay.Man,
it’s so powerful because I mean, you’re literally 23, 24 years later and you got three businesses going. You’ve stacked them. Now you’re two teenage daughters. I love it, man. So let’s take a step into that real estate world. What was that path into real estate and that led you to where you are today?
Lew A Dalupang (04:21)
so I came here, ⁓ like what I said, because I was offered a job. I am a, also a, ⁓ a professional human resource, ⁓ director in my previous life. So, ⁓ I worked for this, ⁓ healthcare company, ⁓ for about, I would say 17 years. So I give my all heart, you know, everything blood, sweat, and tears, man. So.When I started, clerk, as an HR clerk, and I became the chief operating officer of this healthcare entity in like, I would say, span of three to four years. Yeah, so I used to manage or operate nursing homes, assisted livings, home care, an ambulance company. When I started, it was like, what, 60 employees? I grew it to like about 500 employees, man.
Micah Johnson (05:00)
Wow.Wow.
Lew A Dalupang (06:05)
It was fun,Micah Johnson (06:05)
Heck yeah.Lew A Dalupang (06:05)
I learned a lot. Yeah. But you know, you are an employee. So in August 6th of 2018, man, I was let go. Just like that. Boom. We don’t need you anymore. You need to go. You know? So what will I do? I have a family, I have a mortgage. I hit my rock bottom, in 2018. I really don’t know what to do.Micah Johnson (06:20)
Mm.All
Lew A Dalupang (06:34)
So I said to myself, I will never allow anyone to take control of my destiny. You know, I have to do something. That’s when I saw real estate as a path to reach this goal. That’s when I started learning, you know, just, I found a job in Brooklyn, New York. I have to travel three to four hours a day, from New York to New Jersey. It’s not the distance, it’s just the traffic. All right.Micah Johnson (07:03)
Right.Lew A Dalupang (07:04)
Yeah, so what are you gonna do four hours a day? I made my car a library, so I listen to a lot of podcasts about real estate, and that’s where I learn.Micah Johnson (07:15)
So you got into the game doing buying holds first. So what markets do you buy in? Is it there in New Jersey?Lew A Dalupang (07:22)
I’m all over, man. Yes, I have houses here in New Jersey, but I am also invested in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Mississippi, Alabama, Ohio, Florida.Micah Johnson (07:37)
Okay. So you got out of your backyard there, man. I love that. That’s, that’s usually a tough thing for folks to do, but you’re in here growing it. now, now you were talking about a book that you read in the pre-recording. want folks to hear about, cause it kind of adjusted your goal with real estate per se. Is that, is that, would you agree with that?Lew A Dalupang (07:56)
Absolutely. So ⁓ I came across this book, it’s called The Small and Mighty Investor. And it just clicked on me, man, like that. It’s just, the book is simply telling you it’s not really the number of units that you will own. It’s really the amount of passive cashflow that you need to sustain the life that you want. And if you can do that with lesserunits or houses to manage, then the better for you. So yeah, so that’s what I’m trying to do now. Really, that’s the goal that I’m trying to achieve. So I kind of like really stop doing buy and hold and I’m just doing flip now just to be still engaged in real estate, you know, because I love real estate.
Micah Johnson (08:44)
Gotcha.Yeah, yeah. And it’s just different kind of way of making money if you’ve got that that passive flow going. Because I like what you said there. A lot of folks get into real estate and I’ll hear I want to own a thousand doors and all this stuff. And and if you want to own a thousand, don’t care. I don’t I don’t care what your goals are, really. But I like to get it deeper than that. Like you were talking about, like what are you really after? Like go talk to somebody who owns a thousand doors and see if that’s what you really.
want to do or like you’re saying, is it just the money that it creates? And if it’s just the money that it creates, well then how much is, how much do you actually need? Like what do you really need? And it’s more about not how much do you want to make? I don’t ever want a ceiling, but I for sure want a floor. I want to know I got at least this much coming in because that’s what lets us have that life we want. It’s not just having the money. It’s what the money does for us. The peace of mind it creates, security it creates. Knowing that
Lew A Dalupang (09:22)
Exactly.Micah Johnson (09:43)
No one can just show up one day and say, Hey, Lew, we don’t need you anymore. You got to go. Right. Like that’s the benefit of it. And I love the clarity that you were able to get there because that’s where I think a lot of investors kind of get stuck. It’s not about doing more. can all do more. Every everybody that takes real estate seriously and does the work you’re good at it. You’re capable of doing as many as you want, but what are you trying to get closer to?That is one of my favorite questions. Am I getting closer to the life I want or am I just doing more stuff? Because those are not the same answer.
Lew A Dalupang (10:15)
Right.Right, so my goal now is try to make money in flipping and whatever money I make in flipping, I would like to pay off the mortgages. For me, I will choose 10 houses that I wanna keep. You know, after everything that I just want to keep, I wanna pay off the 10 houses and the 10 houses will just take care of me and my family. simple, that’s just my goal right now.
Micah Johnson (11:03)
⁓There you go. They’ll do what you want them to do.
I love that man. it’s, well, that’s what makes goals doable. You know, it’s fun to have big goals and all these things, but if you’re going to have a goal, you got to backdoor it. what’s all right, if I want to be here and what’s before that, what’s before that, what’s before that all the way to where am I today and what actual steps do I need to take? That’s what brings those things to life. And the simpler they can be.
the less moving parts, the more chances you have actually pulling it off because that’s the more little things that got to go right. Even in a flip, we were talking about this a little bit earlier, so it kind of segues, you know, flips, you make your money on the buy in real estate for sure. And if you’re in there saying, if this goes right and this goes right and that goes right, then this is going to pay off this way. Man, you’re dancing with death at that point.
Right? Like the more things that need to go right, the probability of it going wrong is just exponentially going up with that.
Lew A Dalupang (12:14)
I agree 100%. Yes, absolutely.Micah Johnson (12:17)
playing that gamein a way where, again, you actually pull off what you’re trying to. We all get into it with a reason. What’s that reason? How are you making sure that you’re sticking to that to get it done? Because real estate, you start getting going in it, It kind of opens your eyes. You can get that shiny object syndrome pretty easy. You can start adding all these new tools. There’s so many cool things in the real estate world where just knowing what do I actually need?
What do really need for my business? What am I trying to do? Because that kind of goes into now, your goal is to do move into fix and flips and you have a certain amount you want to do, which lets you decide, okay, how do I go find the deal? Right? Do I need to crank up a marketing team? Do I need to do, do I already have the relationship? So it all kind of pieces itself together. Once you understand, okay, this is what I’m trying to do.
Lew A Dalupang (13:10)
Yep, 100%. That’s true. know, when you, they say always put smart goals, right? So what is the goal that’s really attainable and realistic to you? So you have to determine. Only you can determine that.Micah Johnson (13:21)
Right? ⁓That’s it right there. You don’t need someone else’s opinion. It’s just truly your goal. You can make it what you want, but I’m glad that you said smart. There was one of the companies I used to work with. We would always have to build quote unquote smart goals, but it was an acronym. So smart was, ⁓ my God. Yeah, specific, measurable. You got it. You know what I’m talking about? Attainable, realistic and time bound. Like that’s a smart goal. Those are the things that help you see.
Lew A Dalupang (13:43)
specific, measurable, attainable.Really? Time, man.
Micah Johnson (13:55)
It changes the I want a thousand doors to what you actually want, what you can really do right into. OK. And that’s that’s the key to real estate. This is a slow game. This is not a fast thing. If you’re getting into it, plan on being in it for your life if you fall in love with it. And once that mentality hits now, you realize there’s always a deal.Lew A Dalupang (14:08)
It is.Micah Johnson (14:18)
If I do what I’m supposed to do, I’ll be able to find a deal. I don’t need to sweat it. I’m not in a rush to get things done so I can do things right. And that’s why the folks that make the most money in this game are the ones that have stayed in at the longest. And that’s where, you know, when I’m dealing with newer investors, go for the singles and doubles. You’ll hit way more home runs doing that than just trying to hit home runs, because those are the ones that.You open up a wall and realize that you just added 30 grand to your rehab budget that you never saw. That’s what those whole run swings tend to tend to end up with.
Lew A Dalupang (14:51)
⁓ hey.Tell me about it. I had that experience, ⁓ you know, directly.
Micah Johnson (14:57)
⁓take us through it, man. What was it like? You’ve so you’ve walked through a hard deal. What did it teach you?
Lew A Dalupang (15:04)
my God. ⁓ So my first flip, ⁓ it taught me to be conservative. You have to be really conservative when you’re doing your ARV. Right? ⁓ And then you really need to find the right help, the right contractor. Because I partnered with this guy, he started working and we found out later he needs a permit to do this.So town came back saying you don’t have a permit, you gotta tear the wall apart and start doing everything all over again. It was a nightmare. It was a nightmare.
Micah Johnson (15:36)
Right.That’s tough, man. Tough. I tried to tell everybody on the show education step one. And sometimes we earn it the bloody way. And sometimes we can get it in a way where it doesn’t hurt too bad, but it, it, it, absolutely nailed it, man. Especially in that fix and flip world. It’s a relationship business. Heavy, heavy. You can’t, no one can do everything in that, in that world. You got to meet people, get out there with people understand. And that story you told, man, I
Lew A Dalupang (16:35)
All right.Micah Johnson (16:46)
I’ve heard it before where that’s a hard relationship to set up upfront because you don’t know what you don’t know yet. You’re kind of going out trying to vibe check people understand, but they tell you things you’re not really sure what they’re talking about. just, that sounds pretty good. You you’re just kind of going along with it and it teaches us, you know, some folks get that lucky break. It’s a good one. Some get one where it’s not no matter what you stay in the business long enough, you’re going to get both. That’s the reality too.Lew A Dalupang (16:53)
Yes.Right? And then you need to learn how to correct yourself by the mistake of others, not by your own mistake. You can avoid that by learning from the mistake of others.
Micah Johnson (17:20)
Love that.It’s the cheapest way to learn. It’s the cheapest way to learn. It’s another reason I say real estate’s a team sport. When you get into the higher levels of it, the amount of abundance mindset, giving mentality, people that are really will show up and talk to you and help you and show the way. I always say there’s no shortcut in real estate, but the shortcut is to the process through people. That’s the shortcut. There’s only a way to do it. Go talk to people who can show it to you.
Lew A Dalupang (17:27)
It’s the cheapest way to learn.Micah Johnson (17:54)
Because like you just said, if you can learn from their mistake, it’s not just the money you’re going to save, it’s the amount of time you compress. Because when you got to learn it the hard way, it takes forever. How long did it take you to flip that house? Right? You had months and months of learning that lesson where a two hour conversation literally could have saved months and months. And it’s painful to learn, but that’s really that truth. So if you’re listening or watching it,Lew A Dalupang (18:20)
Yeah. All right.Micah Johnson (18:23)
and you’re on the fence about building relationships with people and just kind of winging it, don’t wing it. Don’t. Build the relationships. Go be intentional about that part.Lew A Dalupang (18:34)
Yeah, this project is supposed to be the contractor say, we’ll be done in four to six months. We ended up like what, 10 months? And I was in lot of stress because as you know, a bridge loan is only one year. And guess what? Our goal here was supposed to be in the market in summertime. We were on the market going wintertime. It’s the worst time to sell a house.Micah Johnson (19:00)
Man that double whammy because it is especially up north I mean are some art art we slow down a little bit in the winter down here in Florida But it’s not like it’s cold enough can’t or too cold. can’t buy a house It’s just folks don’t want to do stuff during Christmas, but when you’re working in the markets where You get 20 inches of snow and it shuts the town down for a while right that those are all extra things you got to factor in Which again just comes with experience of real estate is knowingLew A Dalupang (19:27)
Additionally,families will not move during ⁓ class season or if there’s school going on. They would like to move during springtime or summertime because of the kids. So no one will buy the house during that time because they don’t want to move schools.
Micah Johnson (19:43)
Right. And theonly people that are really moving are the ones that are desperate and they’re not always in the greatest situations to keep going. So your, your pool gets smaller and it’s smart though. And if you’re listening or watching in and thinking about what Lew just said, especially in the flipping game, when you’re bring, think about that upfront. So you’re buying the deal. You’re looking at it, working the numbers, working on how long it’s going to take you to rehab it. Cause like you just said, let’s say you pick it up in
July it takes you three months. Now you have to plan on that going to market and in a way where it’s not going to make as much. You needed to do that math up front. That’s where you’re saying be conservative because that’s you make your money in real estate on the buy. If you can buy smart.
Lew A Dalupang (20:29)
One major mistake that I did also is I did not involve a realtor. You have to involve the realtor ⁓ during the early process, even before you acquire any property so that the disposition will be all synced in because that realtor will help you in terms of selling your house. So you have to involve them at the early stage of the acquisition.Micah Johnson (20:53)
Bingo couldn’t agree more man. And again, that’s just putting that team together When you’re if you’re in real estate investing, I call it your tool belt There are a lot of tools you need to keep in your tool belt and the majority of them are people The folks that you have that you can call because like you just said if you’re going to walk a house and you can bring your realtor with you Or you can even bring your contractor with you First your confidence and the offer that you can make becomes off the charts like you know what you’re trying to do You know what’s possible?And then if you get it, great. If you don’t get it, okay. Cause you knew what you were trying to do. There was a plan that you had in place and you don’t, this business is not done well alone. You cannot do it on an island. It’s just one of those things. It 100%, man, 100%. There’s just…
Lew A Dalupang (21:36)
It’s a team sport. It’s a team sport.Micah Johnson (21:37)
This has been going on a long time. People have been doing real estate for quite some time. How to do it isn’t a mystery. You just need to get around the people that know how to do it and then start asking the right questions. Participate. Because that’s when investors, they don’t mind pouring into you if you do the work. know, nobody wants to talk to you if you’re just going to ask questions and never take action. But if you’re taking that asking, learning, taking action, you’ll get this feedback loop that again, it just won’t. You’ll get that hockey stick growth.You’ll all, you’ll become the professional, right? We were making sports analogies. Nobody becomes a professional athlete on their own. I can promise you that they have teams of people around them, trainers, coaches, mentors, all of the above. And that is just as applicable here in our industry.
Lew A Dalupang (22:31)
It needs to begin with the clarity in your mind. You you need to know what you really want before you even go to any mentor. Because if you just got to go there and you don’t know what, you don’t have specifics about what you’re going to ask, then how can they help you? They cannot, you know? So you need to have clarity in your mind before you even approach any mentor.Micah Johnson (22:47)
Right.Micah Johnson (22:52)
Now take us through that. How did you get that clarity before you approach someone? What were some ways you made sure you were understanding what you wanted?Lew A Dalupang (23:01)
Yeah, so it again it all started when I lost my job when I had this job as I was you know I thought that’s it like this is the only way you know because When I came from in the Philippines we were taught to go to school Study hard find a job save money and then retire right so that that’s that’s what I was doing when I was here in America and Then that happened and then I that’s why I tried to look for other avenuesMicah Johnson (23:20)
Right.Lew A Dalupang (23:29)
on how to survive.so I learned that, you know, it’s really, it starts by really having that clear definition in your mind. Like, I really don’t want this to happen to me and my family again. I gave 17 years of my life and they’re just gonna, you know, dispose me like a tissue box. ⁓ So that one like motivated me. That’s the one that really, you know, pushed me to be where I am now.
Micah Johnson (23:50)
Right.Lew A Dalupang (23:58)
And I think, I really think my boss who terminated me because if she didn’t, I probably would still be there.Micah Johnson (24:06)
Right? Right? Well, that’sjust it. Like humans don’t make changes when things are going good. We don’t have a reason to. We just don’t. We’re never going to think about, everything’s great. I’m going to change it all now. That’s just not what we do. Life puts us into uncomfortable situations that squeeze us down and the real us gets to come out of it. That’s when that change can happen. Because like you’re… No, go ahead. Go ahead.
Lew A Dalupang (24:32)
Because the number one, sorry, I’m sorry.Lew A Dalupang (24:29)
Because the number one killer of success is comfort zone. Comfort zone is the number one killer of success. I want you guys to remember that.Micah Johnson (24:39)
Yeah, it is. It is. Because again, you just life is about growth. It’s about learning. One thing I love about real estate, it’s a lifelong learning game. It’s changing all the time. It’s not the same as it was a year ago or two years ago. It won’t be the same in a year. It’s and that’s where putting yourselves around other people that do it becomes super important because you got to keep your ear to the ground. You got to hear what’s going on. You want perspectives from all around the nation. What’s going on here? What’s going on there? What’s going on over here? What are you doing? That’s working really well right now.Lew A Dalupang (25:05)
Right? Right.Micah Johnson (25:09)
What’s not working well, like really digging in with people because that’s what reveals the secrets. What says, okay, this is really going off. know, a friend of mine, he heard about a software last year in one of our events. He used that software to make a hundred grand the next year. Right. And it’s just like that where it’s okay. My ears to the ground. I’m learning. You hear about something, you get to apply it. Boom. Creates growth in your business. AndHe needed growth specifically right there. His business was struggling in that area. was dispositions. He applied the software to it, created an extra hundred grand in his business that year. And it’s booyah, right? Like, but that’s just it. It’s fielding the hard. You said something earlier that I really want to tap on because it was about how important mindset is to this, where things begin as thoughts, they become words, then they become actions, then they become your character.
Lew A Dalupang (25:46)
Amazing.Micah Johnson (26:06)
if I said that correctly. And I love that because it’s so true. Just think about the hard times. Let’s go through yours. You get fired, then there’s thoughts, right? Then they became words where you saying, I’m over, it’s done. I can’t do this anymore. You know what the words become? No, they became, this is never happening again. And then the actions followed up with it to say, okay, it’s really not happening. And now your character’s built where you can lose money on a flip and you’re still wanting to do flips, right? That.That is the beauty of growth in hard times because it’s not that they don’t come back around. Hard is guaranteed. Get over it. if you get your butt hurt or your feelings hurt by hard all the time, real estate ain’t for you. Really life’s not really for you because that’s not the deterrent just because it’s hard. Growing, learning. And I love the fact that you had character at the end. When you take the time to
manage your thoughts, manage your words, be intentional about your actions. It’s who you become that’s really important. It’s that person that can feel anything life has to offer, whether it’s the biggest success or the worst failures. It’s who you are now. Because that’s that, going back to the thousand house person, I look at him and say, if I gave you a thousand houses right now, you wouldn’t know what to do with them.
Lew A Dalupang (27:17)
Great. Great.Micah Johnson (27:29)
You lose them instantly. would literally have no idea what to do. It’s why lottery winners mostly lose all their money. You didn’t become who you needed to be to handle a thousand houses. That’s why that person has a thousand. They became who they had to be to do it. And that’s what’s required for all of us. No matter what your goal is, will you become who you have to be to pull that off? And now you’reNow you’re creating a good life. I got a quote I like that says, a good life is made by living the individual days well and going about it like you’re talking about thoughts, words, actions, character. You do those enough days in a row, man. You farmed out a really good life, right? It’s almost guaranteed at that point.
Lew A Dalupang (28:21)
yeah.⁓
I just want to add one thing there. Your action becomes your habit. ⁓
Micah Johnson (28:27)
⁓ habits, habitsbecome character. Okay, I got to it in. All right, all right. Thank you for the correction. That’s important too. Actions become the habits, habits become the character. Perfect. Well, Lew, man, I could go on about this stuff all day, my friend. It is what really gets me pumped up. I appreciate your time here today, your story, your perspective, the fact that you’ve pushed through, man, and what you’ve created. So for folks out there listening that could be interested in learning from you, talking to you more.
Lew A Dalupang (28:31)
No, ⁓What’s the best way for them to reach out to you and find you?
Lew A Dalupang (28:47)
Sure, you can shoot me an email. It’s [email protected]. I would love to connect with you guys. I can help you in any way or maybe you can help me in any way. It’s just a matter of expanding this network, you know, and, you know, finding the right connection.Micah Johnson (29:06)
Love that. Thank you for sharing. If you’re listening or watching in, check the show notes. We’ll have Lew’s email there for you. Like I say all the time on this show, when you meet a professional, reach out to them. We’re not just bringing random folks on here. Relationships are important. Build them with people who are doing the business every day that have actions involved with their life. So again, Lew, thanks for being here today, man. Loved our conversation. Thank you everybody out there for joining us.If you got value from today’s episode, please like this episode, share it with someone else you think can get value out of it. And don’t forget to subscribe to our podcast. We appreciate every single one of you that follows along out there with us. We’ve got more conversations coming up with operators just like Lew out there building a real business in the industry. Thanks for being with us. We’ll see you on the next episode.
