Insider Secrets Podcast Episode #98

 Guest: Doug McCarty

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Guest Bio:

Episode 98 guest Doug McCarty

Reasons I live by:

  • Family, Me, Work. 
  • 53 yrs old, Father of 15 yr old son, and 10yr red lab. 
  • Self-awareness is a huge part of my existence. 
  • Been sober for over 26 yrs. 
  • Hobbies – Golf, Woodworking, traveling, and working with the scouts and people in need.

Current Business:

  • President – Stong Investments Inc. An STR luxury rental company. 
  • President – DM Claims services, Your complete damage adjusting firm. 
  • Owner/President – Be the best you. Personal and business Advisement. 
  • Owner/President – Stayinourhome.com. A new way to stay, Created by hosts for hosts, Let’s find your happy place. 

Trying to teach the world that making someone else happy will in turn make you happy.”

SHOWNOTES

Key Takeaways

Ability is the action that allows us to do pretty much anything in life and it gives us an action to achieve in life.

As you build your portfolio, you just have to be able to have the ability to give it time when the downturn comes. (Insider Secret)

If you’re a firm believer on buying this information and buying this property and paying it all off, it just basically turns into either a cash cow for you or a life savings plan.

I’ve always stayed with single-family and it’s done really well for us.

If you’re not emotional about property, you can do whatever you want with it.

If you’re a phenomenal host and you give that guest every experience they want, you will never be empty.

It’s a lot harder to come back the second time than it is the first time.

If you can’t face your fears, your ego usually gets in the way.

The struggles we go through are what create the person.

Standout Quotes

“Doug owns and operates a couple of different companies. He is the president of Strong Investments Inc. a short term luxury rental company” – Mike

“I’ve been in the STR business and real estate business for around 32 years. I got into it back in 1989” – Doug

“The best thing about the ability to keep buying real estate is it just gives you other avenues to go into it because in real estate, you don’t stick with one thing” – Doug

“We’ve got commercial property around the United States, also a couple of Walgreens. We’ve got land in areas that we can go out and go umpteen and do whatever we want” – Doug

“If you really want to get into big triple nets, you can go into Kroger’s, you can go into Target’s, Best Buys” – Doug

“Isn’t it interesting when you take a company like Walgreens or CVS, they’re huge companies that are going to be around forever, that they don’t own their own real estate” – Mike

“A lot of people think that luxury means a $35.5 million property with 15 beds and 15 bathrooms and a servant and all that kind of stuff. My definition of luxury is what can I get out of this property when I stay there?” – Doug

“When you do a master lease, it puts you into an asset form. So in other words, we’re not part of the STR law and rules in the United States because we now are a country club” – Doug

“I’ve been sober for 26 years and it’s been a phenomenal ride because without sobriety and the people that helped me within sobriety I wouldn’t know what I know today” – Doug

Timeline

[01:59] Today, I’m joined by my guest, Doug McCarty.

[03:29] In one word, what best describes you personally and professionally?

[04:35] Doug shares his backstory.

[06:58] So talk a little bit about the triple net, how that structure is set up, how that works for the typical investor, and then what you mean by second note?

[09:22] Right now, McDonald’s is the largest land real estate landowner in this. Does McDonald’s make its money in hamburgers? No.

[11:00] So let’s go back and talk about the STRs a little bit.

[17:05] How did you figure that niche out?

[20:32] Hey, what was the defining moment in your life?

[22:56] Well-spoken. So obviously you didn’t get sober on your own. Did you?

[30:12] Best book you’ve ever read?
[30:40] How about the best restaurant?

Contact

Website: www.stayinourhome.com

TRANSCRIPT

Kristen: [00:00:00] Welcome to Insider Secrets, the weekly podcast that turns real estate investing goals into reality. Each show, we interview guests who are seasoned real estate professionals actively closing and managing real estate deals. Mike is the founder of My Core Intentions and would like to help you make your real estate investing dreams a reality.

Mike coaches you to buy investment real estate, creating short-term cash flow and long-term wealth. Your host and real estate coach Mike Morawski has more than 30 years of real estate investing and property management experience. Here’s your host, Mike.

Mike: Hey everybody. Welcome, today. This is Mike, your host of Insider Secrets, and you are in for a treat today. Hey Doug, would you tell the listeners a couple of things that they’re going to hear on today’s episode?

Doug: Hey, today, me and Mike are talking about basically abilities and self-help and talking about my STR business [00:01:00] and why I could drink in 26 years ago.

Mike: Man, Doug, I am excited, and you’re going to have to listen inside to get the rest of today. And you don’t want to miss this.

Hey everybody. Welcome back. It’s Mike, your host of Insider Secrets, and you are in for another great episode today. Hey, getting started, let me ask you again. What are your intentions? What’d you wake up and decide you were going to do? Did you fall through on your daily disciplines? Did you set some goals for the day? Whether it be sales calls or marketing calls, or whatever you had to get done today, but what are your intentions?

You know how I am. I’m always talking about being very intentional about what we’re doing. How do we create or empower you, or you find that power within yourself to move forward, to build your business? What are you doing to grow a little bit each day? So think that through, think those questions through. I know we’re going to talk a little bit about that with our guest today. [00:02:00] Today, I’m joined by my guest, Doug McCarty. Doug, would you say hi real quick?

Doug: Hi guys.

Mike: Glad that you’re here today, Doug. Listen also, please remember, if you like what you hear today, and the content is relevant for you, please go to social media, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, like us, love us, Facebook, YouTube, and subscribe to the channel. Follow us. You never know when we’re going to pop up with some good relevant content. Glad you’re here. If we can do anything for you, let us know.

Hey, let me tell us a little bit about our guest today. Doug McCarty, he’s an entrepreneur. Doug owns and operates a couple of different companies. He is the president of Strong Investments Inc. A short-term luxury rental company which I’m really interested to hear a lot about. Doug is the district manager for claim services, your complete damage adjusting firm.

Doug’s reasons for living are his family, him, and work. He’s a father of a 15-year-old son and has a ten old red lab. Doug has a [00:03:00] huge self-awareness, and that’s a big part of his existence. I love this. He’s been sober for over 26 years. We’ll have a little conversation around that, and he’s trying to teach the world that making someone else happy will, in turn, make you happy.

I love that, Doug. Hey, welcome to the show today.

Doug: Hey, thanks for having me on Mike. I really appreciate it.

Mike: Yeah. Hey, so one question I always start out with all my guests. Doug is, in one word, what best describes you personally and professionally?

Doug: Ability.

Mike: Ability. Wow. I say this, I’ve done a hundred episodes now, and over that hundred episodes, I bet 80 times I’ve told people nobody’s ever said that word, and that’s a word nobody’s ever said. So I love that. When you say ability, why don’t you dig into that a little bit for us?

Doug: Sure. Ability is the action that allows us to do pretty much [00:04:00] anything in life, and it gives us an action to achieve in life. Do I have the ability to do this? I have the ability to ask this question. Do we have the ability as a team to help somebody. With the ability to recognize my self-awareness and what’s going on inside, it’ll give me the ability to ask for help.

Mike: Very cool. So Doug give some context. I gave a little brief bio about you, told a couple of things, but give us some context around that and your backstory.

Doug: So basically, I’ve been in the STR business and real estate business for around 32 years. I got into it back in 89, bought my first property on a land contract, borrowed money from four friends of mine, 3000 each, gave it to the homeowner. He carried back a $40,000 note for 13.6%.

And the dream was basically started at that point. And then we just continued to add [00:05:00] properties from there. From that point, we got into camp all across the United States built a pretty good-sized portfolio then. And the best thing about the ability to keep buying real estate is it just gives you other avenues to go into it because, in real estate, you don’t stick with one thing.

It gives you chances to go into commercial. So we’ve got commercial property around the United States. Also, a couple of Walgreens. We’ve got land in areas that we can go out and go umpteen and do whatever we want. And it just allows us to do other things. And as you build your portfolio, you just have to be able to have the ability to give it time when the downturn comes, or like now when the market is super hot, you just take your less performing ones and sell them off because you’re getting top dollars for them. And it just gives you avenues that you probably never would’ve had otherwise in your life. And if you’re a firm believer on buying this information and buying this [00:06:00] property and paying it all off, it just basically turns into either a cash cow for you or a life savings plan. And it just helps you.

Mike: Doug, talk about this real quick. Walgreens are triple net deals, correct?

Doug: Correct.

Mike: How do those work for you? Do you like those? How’d you get into that?

Doug: I sold off a bunch of property in 2008, 2009. We got into the, what do you call it? Wholesaling process. Had a bunch of deals go great for us. So whenever you sell real estate, you can 10 31 exchange it. That’s what we did with the money. We did 10 31 exchanged it into one of that deals for Walgreens, and a buddy of mine was already doing it. And he introduced me to their contacts, and they said we need buildings in this area, in this area, so we went. A lot of these contracts were on our second notes already. And it’s doing very well.

Mike: So let’s explain that. Okay. A lot of the listeners who are listening to Insider Secrets are new. So talk a [00:07:00] little bit about triple net, how that structure is set up, how that works for the typical investor, and then what you mean by second note?

Doug: Sure. The company would come to us and say, Hey, look, we’ve got an opportunity to go into this. We need you to either (A) purchase a land and then (B) Build us the building. And then what we’re going to do is we’re going to give you a contract for 20 years at X amount. Then we’re going to guarantee back it with the bond so that we give you a no-nonsense lease to where it’s guaranteed.

And then secondly, with the triple nets, meaning that they take care any additional fees or capital improvements, any of that structure is billed back to the company. So there’s really no cost for you except for buying the land and building out building. And then it’s usually 15 or 20-year notes and awards leases.

I call them notes because they’re like a mortgage. And so we’ve basically just signed up four of our units on second-term. So [00:08:00] basically after 11 years, I had them all structured. So in 11 years, they were completely paid off. So now we’re just basically cash flow and 100% and not have to worry about.

Mike: What’s a typical cap rate on those Walgreens?

Doug: When I was buying them then, they were around six, seven. Now they’re around nine 10.

Mike: Okay. That really makes the difference in what you buy in for, or what you build them for?

Doug: Yeah. The land is your biggest expense.

Mike: So I just want listeners to understand, too, that Walgreens is just one of a number of different types of national tenants that you can get for these triple-net deals. There’s CBS, there’s AutoZone. Dollar stores. What else? What am I missing?

Doug: Oh man. There’s all kinds of large restaurant chains. You can go into, if you really want to get into big triple nets, you can go into Kroger’s. You can go into Target’s, Best Buys. If you can land one of [00:09:00] those or Sam’s.

Mike: Which is what’s interesting. So play this, years ago, I learned that the money in any business is really becomes in the real estate. So if you look at, we go way back Doug, Catholic church-owned at one point more real estate in this country than anybody ever, anybody else.

But now, if you go back and you look at McDonald’s. Right now, McDonald’s is the largest land real estate land owner in this. Does McDonald’s make its money in hamburgers? No.

Doug: No.

Mike: They make their money in the real estate. And isn’t it interesting when you take a company like Walgreens or CVS, they’re huge companies that are going to be around forever, that they don’t own their own real estate. And I always found that fascinating in these triple-net deals because that’s really where the money becomes healthy so.

Doug: Yeah, it really helps us out a lot. It make sense for them because they can write it off over a period of time. [00:10:00] Number one. And then, with all their contracts and not knowing whether that portion of that city is going to grow, they can get in there, stay in there for their five or ten years, and then they can really determine whether they want to continue to stay there. They’re all about population and growth in that direction. So if the area that they put one doesn’t grow or populate and they can’t grow with it, then they just, yeah.

Mike: I always talk to people about that when you’re going into a market, and you’re looking at a market, look at that population growth first. That should be the first box that you check. Is it going positive? Is it negative? Where’s it going? And I always believed that, especially in a multifamily space, that’s what we need to look at because that drives jobs. That drives income and.

Doug: Yeah. Multi-family, I’ve never been really into, I think I’ve owned a couple of duplexes in my day, but other than that’s the largest I ever got into with multi-family. I’ve always stayed with single-family, and it’s done really well [00:11:00] for us.

Mike: So let’s go back and talk about the STRs a little bit. The thing in your bio you said is that you’re in luxury STRs where most people say, Hey, it’s just Airbnb, but I don’t see anybody really touting the torch that it’s luxury. Explain that a little bit.

Doug: We have to define the definition of luxury, right? A lot of people think that luxury means a $35.5 million property with 15 beds and 15 bathrooms and a servant and all that kind of stuff. My definition of luxury is what can I get out of this property when I stay there? So I always tell people, when you go to Vegas, and you put yourself in the top suite of a hotel room in Vegas, you have a Butler, you have a maid service, you have the opportunity to have a chef.

You have the opportunity to get anything you want when you call down to the front desk. They will bring it to you. That’s the definition of luxury. So we have turned our [00:12:00] units into the concierge business, basically to anybody who stays on our properties, and the clientele that I have gone after to build these 10,000 names that stay within this organization are probably five to 16 centers in the United States wherever they’re at. They can afford to do these things. So when you stay at, if you were to go to one of my properties, let’s take Chicago for example, if you were to go to Chicago and you said, Hey, look, I’m picking my son up there. It’s the Cubs are playing.

Can you get me tickets for that? We have tickets to every sporting event in the air. So you have first right to my tickets. And then you just say, Hey, I’d like to go out to Michigan a few hours, we have a shared yacht up there. You can rent that from, we have a car available to you in a parking slot at any time you want it, that you can rent.

We have partnered with 14 restaurants, and there are chefs. So if you have a party or whatever, you have ten people that want to stay in our unit. And you guys don’t want to cook dinner. You just want to sit on the 35th [00:13:00] floor, have dinner, wine, and drinks and have fun. I’ll come up with. These are the things that I consider luxury and make you smile in any possible way because you don’t have to go get it. We bring it to you.

Mike: Where’s that unit at?

Doug: That unit is on Randolph and Michigan in the millennium tower. You ever looked Brandt park.

Mike: Yup. Yup.

Doug: Yeah. That’s been a great unit. We Bought it on a foreclosure because the guy ran out of money. He bought two units knocked out the center wall, so it’s 3,400 square feet, four bedrooms, four bathrooms. And it’s a phenomenal unit.

Mike: You caught my attention with the yacht part of it.

Doug: Right. Yeah. I say we partnered with I got four of the partners in that. And then we can just all use it. Two of them also have STRs in the area, and I manage their units also. So mainly we use that boat for that.

Mike: Yeah. Nice. Interesting. Where else do you have STRs?

Doug: Personally, I [00:14:00] own 32 units left, down from 60.

Mike: Okay. Why’d you cut back?

Doug: Somebody asked me that they wanted to get into the business about nine, ten months ago. And was there any of mine that I wanted to sell? So we did it perform a brace on a bunch of units and took anything that was performed in between 80, 88, and 90%, and I don’t want to sell it price tag on them. And then he gave it to me. Like I said before, it’s the ability to pivot. And if you’re not emotional about property, you can do whatever you want with it.

Mike: Here’s what I love. Yeah. I know. I always tell people don’t marry the deal. It’s math over emotion. But here’s what I love what you just said is you put, I don’t want to sell it price on it. And he bought him.

Doug: Right?

Mike: Yeah.

Doug: There are all of our numbers. Now he doesn’t get it by any of the process that we do with it. He has to build his own process. In other words, he has to build his own STR business out of them. He doesn’t get anything that came with ours, and we showed them the numbers that [00:15:00] we were doing with those units. But I told him what I do in this business is probably 60% to 70% more than 80% of the people do in STR business.

Because of the hospitality side that I give it, I am a hundred percent for you, the guest, not the property. You can buy any four walls and turn it into anything you want. If you’re a phenomenal host and you give that guest every experience they want, you will never be empty.

Mike: So back to the original question, there was, what other markets do you have STRs?

Doug: So we are in 49 states. And so we manage another 74 units that clients have given us. And so we’re in 49 states and five countries. So we’re in Canada. Ruba, Belize, The Cayman Islands, and France.

Mike: So if somebody wanted to find a rental, could they call you directly?

Doug: Yes.

Mike: Okay, we’ll give them that information at the end of the show. That’s awesome. Like your business is not [00:16:00] just a little business that most people have one or two of these vacation rentals that they rent out.

Doug: So a lot of the guests, all these 74 units that we have that we manage have all been guest units. So guests have asked us, Hey, do you think you can do this with our? And then we basically interview them go through the process. We go look at it, tell him, Hey, look, it’s gonna cost you this much to get it. It’s going to cost you this much to put it into process. And then after you’ve put it into process and you rent it to me. So I have total control. This is what you could potentially make. Cause we take a very high percentage.

Mike: So you do a master lease on them. Is that what you’re saying?

Doug: Correct. When you do a master lease, it puts you into an asset form. So, in other words, we’re not part of the STR law and rules in the United States because we now are a country club.

Mike: Wow. And you’ve been doing this 22 years?

Doug: On the big platform.

Mike: What’s interesting is that it’s really just caught on lately in the last few years.

Doug: Oh yeah.

Mike: And you’ve been doing it for a [00:17:00] long time.

Doug: Yeah. I’ve been doing it pre-cell phone, pre-internet.

Mike: How did you figure that niche out?

Doug: I like to play a lot of golf, so I met a lot of guys that liked to play golf also in country clubs and golf courses. And when I started to buy my first couple of units, I was buying them next to golf courses. They says, do you guys ever go to this golf course or this golf course? And if you do, would it be easier to have all eight of you in this house versus retina hotel?

And would you do it for three or four days? And that’s kinda how I got into that niche. And then I just started walking to people, and they started talking to people. And then I started buying, I targeted golf courses in the beginning, and then I went to lake houses and then I went to ocean sides. It just grew from there.

Now we have a hunting preserve. We have e-resorts. We have anything that you’d possibly want to do. If there’s a hobby [00:18:00] or something that you’re interested in, we have a property that will situate you.

Mike: Isn’t that interesting, I should have introduced you as the founder of STRs.

Doug: No. There’s been guys doing it way before me.

Mike: I am just teasing. Hey, so talk about a defining moment in your life.

Doug: That would be October 27th, 1995. I came out of a courtroom looking at about 12 years in prison because I got drunk and stupid one night and basically was driving down the interstate. I’m a big hunter. I carry a gun with me when I’m hunting and this and that. The gun was loaded. I’m driving down the interstate, a brown officer said, Hey, you got loaded weapon and this kind of stuff. So I fell into that. And I was really stupid drunk. On October 27th, 1995, I got sob. That’s my defining moment.

I’ve been sober for 26 years, and it’s been a phenomenal ride because, without sobriety and the people that helped me within sobriety, I wouldn’t know what I know today. And I’d probably [00:19:00] still be, either dead or drinking and basically doing everything that you’re not supposed to do in life, instead of doing the things that we are supposed to be doing.

Mike: Did you go to prison, Doug?

Doug: I did. And I did 325 days on house arrest.

Mike: Okay.

Doug: So I got lucky in that aspect.

Mike: Yeah.

Doug: When you have to look at the judge during sentencing and the potential of looking at 14 years because of all the things that you’re doing. And you’re shaking in your boots. And then he says, you get 324 days in house arrest. You basically hit the ground or hit your knees and understand that you’ve really got lucky.

Mike: Here’s what I know for sure. Nothing happens in God’s world by mistake. True.

So just to let you know a little bit, I don’t know if you know my whole story, but I was sober 26 years. Lost my business world, went to hell, turned upside down, wound up on a ten-year federal prison sentence. I went away in 2013, but before I went away, lost my [00:20:00] sobriety. So I just have about seven and a half years now, second time around so.

Doug: Congratulations!

Mike: Yeah. Thanks!

Doug: It’s a lot harder to come back the second time than it is the first time.

Mike: It’s one day at a time, Doug.

Doug: Yep.

Mike: And you’re right about that. It’s tougher the second time around.

Doug: Yeah. The embarrassment and the pride, and once you let the fears and the ego take control, you’re basically screwed.

Mike: Yeah. Man. I didn’t think that we would take this turn in this episode here.

Doug: It’s a great turn. It lets people know who you are.

Mike: I was like when I asked somebody, Hey, what was the defining moment in your life? Come on, give me another one.

Doug: You want me to go somewhere else? Because it’s the truth. And if you know people that have gotten sober, the stories that you can get into and the things that they’ve done while drinking versus the things that they’ve done while sober is, the difference is, they’re telling the truth after they get [00:21:00] sober.

And they never have to remember what they said before that. It’s just a relief and allows you to basically just do anything you want. Without structure, without having to think about anything, you can just say what you’re saying. And tomorrow I don’t have to wake up and know that I tell him on the phone yesterday, because I got to remember exactly what that is. Is that conversation comes up again.

Mike: Yeah. Now I don’t have to remember where my car is. And I’ll lose my keys it’s not cause I was drunk. It’s just because I lost my keys.

Doug: Yeah, exactly. It was funny like a year before I got sober, I had lived with my parents for years, but for some reason, one night, I got super super drunk, and bar was pretty close to where my parents’ house was. So I guess I decided to go home and stay there and in the basement or something.

I woke up on my neighbor’s living room floor with my truck parked in their front yard. With my neighbor waking me [00:22:00] up, kicking me in the chest, going Doug, what are you doing? What are you doing?. I’m like, what do you want? And he goes, get up. You’re in my house.

Mike: You can laugh at that kind of stuff today.

Doug: Oh, it’s crazy. It’s just real life. And I found that in the last 26 years that if people can be real at themselves and look at that person in the mirror and just say, you know what, I am who I am, and the stories that I have are what built me. How do I continue to do it this way, or how do I change that and make myself like myself? If you don’t like yourself, because we all know that business and aspirations and everything that we do starts with us.

If we don’t like ourselves, how has your company, how has anything else going to flourish? How are the friends in your tight circle going to be just as happy as you? If you’re angry, they’re going to be angry.

Mike: Yeah, no doubt. No doubt. Well-spoken. So obviously, you didn’t get sober on your own. [00:23:00] Did you?

Doug: No. So when I came home from court I went to, I sat down with my dad, and he just said, what’s your plan? I said I need to get some help. I’m done. And he goes, that’s a good plan. So he looked up in the phone book and found a local AA place and called them and says, Hey, is there meetings today?

And there’ll be my first meeting. And then I met these three guys in this meeting. And until today, those three guys are probably my best friends. John has been sober for 27 years, and Randy and Dave and they’ve been sober for 30 years and then 32 years. So it’s been an amazing ride.

Like I said, when I met John, John was the first person to shake my hand cause he was the board reader. And he says welcome. And how you doing? And he just said, he goes, he knew I needed help because I walked in. I didn’t say anything. I just looked at him with my head down. And then I sat in the back of the room.

And as we all do, because we don’t know what we’re doing, we don’t know how we’re going to do anything. We just came out of a relationship with something that we loved so much that [00:24:00] now we can no longer do. So the change started then.

Mike: Yeah, it’s amazing how God will work in your life if you let him.

Doug: We’re powerless over the things we cannot change.

Mike: Yeah.

Doug: And then your definition of insanity, you just keep doing the same thing over and over, getting the same results.

Mike: It’s that first step, though, and I love that because it’s not just alcohol and drugs. It’s people, places, and things we’re powerless over.

Doug: That’s an application life. That’s the reason why I think it took me probably two years to grasp it and understand it bullheaded and not very kindly to taking orders and doing what I’m supposed to be doing when somebody is telling me to do it. I like to do things my own way, but after I grasped it and understood it and realize that it is no longer for me, it’s about everybody else that surrounds me, then I figured out, wow, this could be fun.

Mike: You’re comfortable talking about this? You’re good?

Doug: Oh, absolutely.

Mike: Okay, good.

Doug: Anybody and everybody around me knows exactly who I am. [00:25:00] Like a sheriff, somebody new coming around and asking my story.

Mike: Hundred episodes and first time I’ve ever talked to anybody about sobriety. I’ve talked about Jesus a lot because that’s what got me through prison and kept me doing what I did. I’ve never talked to anybody about sobriety on this show. I welcome this. So thank you for doing that today.

Doug: Absolutely. Yeah. Like I said, if you can’t face your fears, your ego usually gets in the way. And then once your ego gets in the way, you might as well basically go ask for help because something needs to be changed.

Mike: What’s interesting is my mom has 59 years of sobriety.

Doug: Wow.

Mike: And she is hardcore old AA. Hardcore, Doug. And we’ve had this conversation about a number of times and what you and I are doing right now. And then this gets put out there in the public eye and on the internet, and people will listen to it.

And she would have heart attack. Nobody’s [00:26:00] talking about, they’re publicly talking about their sobriety or AA and but we’re not using it for public promote. You and I are just having a conversation. And what I want to say is if there’s anybody listening to this that needs help or is at that turning point in their life, to make sure that you call me, you call Doug, you get to an AA meeting and get an get your arms around yourself.

Doug: Yeah, it’s not about self-promotion. And this is just a conversation between two people. And the perception is that somebody else will perceive from this will be either a, those guys are nuts or, you know what, I really want to know what those guys were about and what they’re talking about.

Mike: There’s plenty of people already that think I’m nuts, Doug.

Doug: We already know that. Once everybody can get over the possibility of the picture that they’re trying to paint isn’t real, life gets a lot easy. The struggles we go through are what create the person.

Mike: Yeah.

Doug: [00:27:00] And like I said, it’s just been a phenomenal ride. I don’t care so much about what people think about me. It doesn’t bother me to the act to the point that it used to. A little bit now and then, but it’s really on them. That’s not on me. So it doesn’t really affect me as much. That’s their perception.

That’s their problem. Because they haven’t taken the next step, they come up and ask me questions to really find out who I am and what I’m about. You know, anything about that. So that’s on them, not on me. It still bothers me once in a great while when somebody thinks about me, but I have a fine line. People either love me, or they don’t like me because I’m brash.

Mike: We can’t fix anybody else. You said it early on, I think in this episode about self-love really caring about yourself anyhow. So it’s about what you think about yourself more than what other people think about us. I can’t care if somebody likes me, or doesn’t like me. And I say that with humility, not that I just don’t care. But I can’t let it dictate my life.

Doug: Yeah. Correct. It’s the same way. I [00:28:00] can’t be anywhere that I’m at today without the team that I’ve built. Because I always look at everything within business is, I hope that I’m the dumbest person in the room that I’ve brought with me. Because it helps me be that much stronger and that much better.

I worked my ass off to do everything that I’m supposed to do. And when I get to X amount of hours where I’m just spinning, I figure out what I’m spending so much time on. And then I hire that next person to take over that area so that they can grow that portion. And I can cut back a little bit and focus on something different. And that’s the key to business, and people don’t realize.

Complete two tasks a day for one year, just two tasks for one year. Whether it be making your bed and then one task at work, those two things alone will create seven hundred and some odd opportunities for you, because you just completed them. If you don’t complete them, start out, [00:29:00] then you’ll see where you’re at.

Mike: Yeah. I’ve heard that a lot about making your bed, that when you get up in the morning, first thing you should do make your bed. Get something accomplished, grab onto that win, hold it all day and say, Hey, I was successful today because I made my bed because I got that task done, right?

Doug: Yeah. It starts with the small thing, man. It builds on your confidence. It builds on your attitude. It builds on your health, and it builds on your self-awareness.

Mike: This has been awesome. I appreciate you, and anytime you’re coming to Chicago to go out on that yacht, make sure you have my cell phone number.

Doug: You live up in Chicago. Don’t ya?

Mike: I do. I’m right in the city. So it won’t take me long to get over there and bring some food for us.

Doug: Awesome.

Mike: Hey, how do people get ahold of you if they want to talk to you about short-term rentals, pick your brain about the luxury side of it, about sobriety?

Doug: You can get ahold of me; basically, you can go to my website stayinourhome.com. They can go there, and they can email me through there. And then I will either (a) reach out with my phone [00:30:00] number. And I don’t want to give out my personal cell phone on a huge platform.

Mike: That’s fine.

Doug: But other than that, They can get ahold of me through there.

Mike: Perfect. Hey Doug, a little bit of a lighter note. Best book you’ve ever read?

Doug: Okay. So for talking about transparency, I don’t read a lot.

Mike: Okay.

Doug: Probably I’ve only read about six books, and probably The Rainmaker was one of the books that I really enjoyed.

Mike: I haven’t heard that in a long time.

Doug: But it’s really old. I don’t read, I do a lot of audio podcasts and that kind of stuff, but I don’t read a lot of books.

Mike: Okay. How about best restaurant?

Doug: Best restaurant will probably have to be. I’d say, The Burger Shack in Counts, Tennessee.

Mike: Okay.

Doug: So it’s a barn converted into a Shack alongside the road, and you look at it, and you go, [00:31:00] Ooh, that looks rough.

Mike: Yeah.

Doug: Best burger and fries you’ll ever have.

Mike: Wow, nice. There was a place like that in Austin, Texas. It’s gone now. It was there for years, but old downtown Austin. So you look at them, and you go, man, I’m not going near that place, but best food you could ever have.

All right, Doug. Hey, listen. It’s been a pleasure. Thanks for being here today. Everybody, if you want to get ahold of Doug, you can. We’ll have the information in our show notes or go directly to say it again, Doug.

Doug: stayinourhomes.com.

Mike: Hey, Doug, it was pleasure today. Look forward to catching up again soon. Everybody, thanks for being here today. And we will see you next week.

Kristen: Thank you, Mike, and thank you for joining us for another great episode of Insider Secrets. As always, Insider Secrets is brought to you by My Core Intentions. Wherever you hang out on social media, you will find Mike and My Core Intentions, [00:32:00] please and follow us to get the most up-to-date real estate investing trends.

Visit mycoreintentions.com, where you can get expert coaching on all things, real estate investing, and property management. If you’re looking to become an expert, Mike’s coaching will help you scale your real estate investment business. We’re looking forward to having you back again next week for more Insider Secrets.