Episode 3: VA Success: Building Strong Teams for Real Estate Growth with MyBrokerMatt

In this episode of The Breakthrough, we dive into the world of real estate with the investor and entrepreneur, MyBrokerMatt. He shares his journey from starting with a simple college dorm-style setup to creating unique and themed rental properties that capture the hearts of guests. In this episode, you will learn:
Takeaway 1: Unleash Your Creativity with Themed Properties Creating themed properties can set your rentals apart from the competition and leave a lasting impression on your guests.
Takeaway 2: Virtual Assistants (VAs) - The Backbone of Scaling Success Virtual Assistants play a pivotal role in scaling a real estate business. They can handle various tasks, allowing you to focus on the core aspects of your operations.
Takeaway 3: Balancing Growth with Systems and Processes While scaling your real estate business is essential, it's crucial not to get lost in the process of building systems and forget about revenue generation. Develop standard operating procedures (SOPs) to streamline workflows and ensure consistency in your operations. Whether you're an experienced investor or just starting in the real estate world, there's something here for everyone looking to succeed in this dynamic industry.

TRANSCRIPT

∎ Podcast Intro:

[Stephen Husted] (0:00 - 54:07)

Welcome to The Breakthrough with Stephen Husted, the show that takes you behind the scenes with successful entrepreneurs, real estate investors, and other movers and shakers in the business world. In each episode, we'll sit down with our guests to explore their personal and professional journeys, including the challenges they faced, the breakthrough moments that propelled them to success, and the strategies and the tactics they used to get there. Get inspired by new ideas and strategies and get to know our guests on a deeper level.

Join us for candid conversations, powerful insights, and plenty of breakthrough moments. Please help us grow by subscribing and sharing the podcast, and welcome to the show.

∎ Guest Introduction:

Our guest needs no introduction to short-term rentals as he's become a legend in the industry.

He started with a single property and transformed it into a thriving empire of 31 successful Airbnbs, and he did this with uniquely themed accommodations. He's known for creativity, attention to detail, and a commitment to providing unparalleled guest experiences. But it doesn't stop there.

Through his STR Legend Mastermind, he's been guiding and empowering countless real estate investors to embrace the world of short-term rentals and achieve their own breakthroughs. Today, we are honored to sit down with the one and only MyBroker Matt. In this interview, Matthew shares his invaluable insights and the secrets behind his journey to becoming a true STR expert.

So without further ado, let's dive into the conversation with MyBroker Matt.

∎ Podcast Proper:

Thanks for joining onto my podcast. I appreciate it.

I know that we had spoke a couple months ago, and that probably would have been the one that we should have recorded because it was pretty intense and it was great. And I just remember we got off. I'm like, damn, I wish I would have had that recorded.

But we know we got on the calendar and here we are today. So I'm glad you could make it and jump on. So how are you doing today?

We certainly did. Oh. So, well, I guess we could back, let's just, that's seven people.

Well, okay. So in the first try of the podcast, I brought that up. So in, I think for the audience and where I found you first was years before COVID and you'd getting into short-term rentals, you were making videos for out-of-state investors and you were doing walkthroughs of properties and you were showing the good, the bad, the ugly.

You had a lot of humor in there. And I always thought it was interesting when you would do the videos too. I'd go, God, it's so cold there.

You can just tell, be snow and you're in like these big jackets and things. And I was like, damn, it's cold there. I don't know.

I don't know. And I think at that point, I think I had bought two houses in Michigan, one in Detroit, one in Harper Woods. And then I started following you and I was going through agents and people and burning through them.

I mean, it is kind of tough to build a team out in Detroit from what I've experienced. That's just me. I'm just going to put it out there.

It's been tough, but I found you and this started following you for a while. And then COVID came and we started talking through DMs on Instagram. And then we literally had a conversation when I was climbing a mountain.

I was on my mountain bike and we were both talking to each other, just back and forth. And I think you mentioned, what are you doing, dude? And I'm like, well, I'm climbing a mountain right now.

And he's like, well, you're like, what? It's been cool to watch your journey progress from where I saw you to now. And I think that's a big part of shooting content, being on social media and documenting what you do.

It really is a cool thing to watch that progression, don't you think? Yeah. That's a tough business.

Are you doing property management for your short-term space and for long-term rentals for your clients? Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah, absolutely. So you started off with a long-term rental scenario. And primarily most of your clients at that point were probably first-time buyers and sellers, but then a lot of out-of-state investors.

So you were doing a lot of that. And are you still doing, are you still helping investors do that? Are you kind of going straight more to STR, short-term rentals?

And is that more the main focus? Yeah. Yeah.

Right. Right. So, okay.

Yeah, we're going to get into that. How are you, so explain to me your first beginning to end short-term rental, like break that down. So I know that you went somewhere and went to some conferences, or you probably listened to a couple of podcasts and something intrigued you.

Tell me that process from beginning to end, if you can. The beginning. Yes.

Yes. Like how was that all? How many issues did you have?

Yeah. I got a question. Sorry to interrupt.

I got a question because we're on furnishings. What do you do now when it comes to furnishing? Do you have a dedicated interior designer that comes in and sets the theme of the property?

I've seen that. I saw that one. Yeah, that's great.

So, as time went on and you started to scale, explain to me how you started to implement systems, because I know that's a huge part of this. Oh gosh, here we go. Okay.

Explain what that is to the audience. We take a lot of things for granted. You know that, you know.

That's good. Right. Loom?

Yeah. Yes. Where did you source your VAs and what platforms were you getting your VAs from?

Absolutely. It's totally true. Well, I don't think people understand that.

What happens is you go, okay, I'm trying to scale and I'm growing this business. I need a VA. So then you hire the VA and then you're like, you have to train them and it takes time to get that synergy together.

But once you do get it there and everything is moving the way it should, then it's almost another scale because now you can take on another one and they can hyper-focus on one little section of the business and you got one for this, you got one for this. I think people just are lazy and don't want to put the time into their VA. They're not going to just know how to do things.

They'll know how to do basic, but you really have to teach them and put in that time and yeah. And then it's great. Right.

Right. Right. Right.

They're so essential to your business, especially if you're doing it multiple businesses. You mentioned five businesses that you're currently working in, give or take. So VAs are so crucial on that part because at the end of the day, you can't do it all.

Or there may be days you don't want to do anything and the business is still running and the people are still doing everything in the background. And I think that that's a lot of things people definitely don't because a lot of people do not want to let go of the reins. They think they're going to do everything better and that nobody can do it as good as they can do it.

But that really holds you back from the growth. If you can just get somebody and have them mirror and if they can do 70%, but they're enthusiastic, they're into the business, they want the growth, they want to go on that journey with you is massive. And Angel is a good example.

I'm grooming her to be the one that runs the team of VAs. We've already added another one. We've got editors under her and she's managing all of it.

But I don't want her to do it all because it's too much for her. I want to get her to a point where she's going to take over really what she loves to do. She can take care of the rest of the team and the rest can do what they really love to do as well, so that everybody's happy in what they're into.

They got to love what they're doing. I don't want them to feel like they're just logging in to make money. Absolutely.

Yes, we use it. But it's a big part of our business. I think it's a thing that people think about a lot and don't jump aboard because they just don't understand it and they don't know the value that's there.

It is a big topic, especially for investors or short-term operators. This is how you scale. You need to have them one way or another.

That's the reality. Unless you're going to have 10 friends local to an area that you live in and everybody has a role, then maybe that could work too. Absolutely.

You brought up a really good point about asking them their future. One thing that I do with Angel is we are constantly talking about where she can be down the road. I don't want her to just show up and be in that one position.

You know what's interesting? Over the last year, for instance, content, we started putting out a lot of content, shooting videos. But what happened during that period of time is we learned how to source editors, how to find copywriters, how to do all these different things, and she learned how to do all that.

Now, we have people coming to us that need help on making videos and getting editing done. We turned that into a business. I want her to feel like it's her business.

Even though she's not here, it's part of her business. We've noticed that there's a lot of things that we've taken for granted over the year and a half that we've learned so much that it's valuable to other people. Now, we're turning that into more businesses.

It's really wild. We're on this podcast and we're talking. 10, 15 years ago, this would have never been.

We wouldn't have been talking, you and I, period. Wow. Dude, seriously, that's so crazy.

Yeah, 30 is the norm. I see 30 mostly, especially on the Smokies, the companies that are doing the management for people. I see 30.

Well, yeah, that is a good point. We self-manage ourselves and that's a big chunk of revenue that we save. We've had other people coming to us that want us to co-host for them.

We just haven't got to that point yet because we don't have enough under our belt to do it for us. I think what's happening is we're going in so many different directions. We're trying to make sure that we are focusing on the right things, still generating revenue, and still building out these businesses.

We don't want to take on too much at once and not be able to deliver the results that we want. And we make mistakes on our own. We make mistakes and that's okay.

I think making mistakes is totally fine. As long as you're learning from your mistakes and moving on, then you're good. But that's real estate.

I don't care what space you're in. Actually, I just listened to Robert Kiyosaki and his wife and some other gentlemen on a podcast. All they were talking about is their mistakes.

They're super successful and they were just laying it all out there. One of the big ones was trusting people. Too much trust.

That is definitely one of my drawbacks. I'll get on the phone with somebody. I'm going to go and invest or I'm looking for another agent or market or contractor, you name it.

And I'll just listen to them and I'll build that trust. But then that trust has got me in trouble because it's gone the other direction. Down the road with a contractor, I'm like, hey, this guy's cool and he's going to get it done.

And then all of a sudden, he's basically robbing me blind. No, you don't. No.

Yeah. So, besides your business, what's going on in the personal life? You've had a lot of changes.

Yeah. Everybody knows that follows you. They just see it online.

That's great. Congrats. I love it.

That color is awesome, by the way, in the background. I like it. You know, it's interesting.

It looks like it almost has like an undertone of green to it, like a grayish green. But now I look at it, it's changing. So it's like a charcoal, I would say.

Yeah. Oh, yeah, yeah. You're right.

There you go. There you go. Yeah, it looks good.

Wait, what are you talking about? Where? Where'd you grow up?

Right. No, no, it's, you know, it's OK. I think that, you know why?

It's your it's your story. And no one can take away your story. You know, and it shaped you and what you do now, don't you think?

I mean, yeah. Where's that at, by the way, what neighborhood are you with? It's in Royal Oak.

OK. Well, for the listeners, can you tell them what Royal Oak is like? Because there's a lot of spaces out there, so.

Does it have a downtown? Are Tesla's popular out there? Right.

Well, that's all going to change by it, by the way, due to the fact that Ford and GM both announced that they're going to start to use Tesla's charging stations. And that is going to make this. Yeah.

And now Rivian's jumping on board, too. So now there's three legacies. Well, one EV maker and then the legacies that are going to be using Tesla.

So I think that's that's great. They finally came around, said, hey, let's not waste time. Let's start making cars and get on this network and let's move along.

So that's interesting. That's cool. Absolutely.

Right. That's cool. So what do you.

Well, right now, what have you been working on? Anything interesting that is exciting you that you got going on? Yeah.

The the the coaching part's super rewardable, feels good, doesn't it? Yeah. Breakthroughs.

That's crazy. Is that the mastermind group that you're talking about? OK.

And so tell me, when did you start that? And then how many people do you have in the mastermind group currently? Right.

You've been talking about it for a while. You've been talking about it for a while. And you know what?

I think that some people would be like, OK, you've been talking about it for a long time. But here's the thing. I think that I think what some people don't understand, it's almost the same thing as Elon talking about something in the business.

He's got the vision. He knows where he's going and he's going to talk about it. Now, does that vision happen the following year?

No. Maybe it takes a long time. But the fact of the matter is little steps are going towards that.

When I started this podcast, well, I wanted to start a podcast. And I went to a course for Neil Holm, who teaches realtors and loan officers how to shoot video. So I went to that and I was so excited.

And I go, dude, I want to start a podcast. And they're like, one step at a time. And I didn't realize.

And I, of course, put it on social media. I want to do podcasts. So I tell people.

And that makes me accountable. And I'm going to start doing it. But, dude, I said that almost a year ago.

And it almost took a year to get it up and running. It's not the recording like sitting here and having the conversation part. That's easy.

It's like everything to do in the back end, how to set up, get everything on Anchor and on Apple. So I totally understand where you were coming from when you were bringing it up on social media. I knew exactly.

I'm like, he's bringing it up, but he's going through all those pain points and figuring things out and how to make it better. And I just figured something out in the shower. Now I'm going to update this.

Good. Good. Yeah, it's cool.

I think there's one thing having you on the podcast and why you're on the podcast is because I follow you. I've had conversations on the phone and I kind of understand your personality because I've seen you for a long period of time. And in an era where we can follow a lot of people and there's a lot of, you have to get through the noise.

You could follow some people that think they're gurus and don't even walk the walk, don't even own property sometimes. It's very strange right now out there. It's crazy.

And I've had these really great conversations with people on the West Coast, to you, to all these different people in different businesses. And now I'm almost at that point where I really want to have my own mastermind group too, of these people. I want to invite you.

I want to go to my cabin in the Smokies at some point through May to October and bring five people. Five people maybe. And just bring everybody together and just see what...

Because I feel like this is where it all happens. There's things that you've said indirectly right now that maybe you just said, but it almost puts me in another direction too. It's very strange.

And you just don't get that. You need it. So I want to end it on this because the podcast is the Breakthrough Podcast.

And I know you've already thrown that out a couple of times, but can you give me one of your most memorable breakthrough moments?

[MyBrokerMatt] (54:10 - 55:48)

It was probably COVID. It was right after the first one and COVID. Right after the first STR when I was like, oh my God, it's actually working.

I decided to convert my next long-term that was going to be coming up. The lease was expiring. They were going to be moving.

I said, you know what? I'm going to try and convert that. And I converted that.

And sure enough, that was making me even more money. I was like, for my third one, that one made even more money. Then I bought my fourth one.

I was like, oh my God, what am I doing? And right on my fourth or fifth one, that's when COVID happened. And my long-terms were struggling.

My STRs weren't. And I was like, I'm onto something. What?

What is happening here? And I quintupled down more or less. And that was kind of the moment, man.

And even before that, it's just starting in your first investment period, right? Remember the fear, the doom, the gloom, you're on bigger pockets, you're triple dipple underwriting everything. Oh my God, I'm going to screw this up.

And then you buy it. You're like, oh my God, I didn't get screwed. By your second one, I think if I do it similar, I probably won't screw it up.

I'm okay. By your third one, you're like, I don't need to worry so much. And by your 10th one, you're like, run it.

Let's go. Let's not waste time. I'm already thinking about the 11th one.

Yeah, exactly. Right. Well, hey man, I just want to thank you again.

Thank you so much for having me on. You do a great job. I really look forward to seeing your content and all the podcasts you put out.

Thank you for joining.

[Stephen Husted] (55:48 - 56:06)

I'm glad we finally got on this and I know this won't be the last. At some point down the road here, I think we're going to do things together. I have a feeling.

And I don't say that with everybody, but I think this is going to be something that will happen at one point or another. I know what you mean, man.

[MyBrokerMatt] (56:07 - 56:08)

I know you mean it.

[Stephen Husted] (56:09 - 56:24)

Congrats with everything. Looking forward to seeing the baby photo when that comes too. Thank you, man.

Best of luck on that because you're going to be having some sleepless nights. Don't remind me.

[MyBrokerMatt] (56:27 - 56:29)

All right, my brother.