Alright guys, so a lot of people access how do they make a podcast? I'm let you in on a secret on the easiest most productive way to start a podcast and get it up and running and that is the app called anchor is free. They have all kind of cool creation tools that allow you to record and edit your podcast right from your phone or computer. They will distribute your podcast for you to all of the major Outlets including spot.Why Apple Google many more and you can make money from your podcast with no minimum listenership is everything you need to make a podcast in one simple easy place. So if you're interested in starting a podcast Go download the free anchor app or go to Anchor dot f m-- to get started. Let's do it. What's up, y'all? So it's a big week here. Earn your leisure as we have officially launched eyl University. That's right. I'll online educational platform is here on E. Yl U. We're going to provide you with courses taught by some of our alumni and experts in the field going to give you live access to our monthly workshops, and we're going to give you weekly webinars and we're not playing around with starting at right now. So this Wednesday November 6th the good brother Andre Hatchet is going to teach us all the tools and knowledge of how to make six figures. Mobile notary game so had to earn your leisure.com hit the e yl u Tab and log in and that's not all we're going to continue our hometown hero series by releasing two episodes this week. That's right two episodes Tuesday and Friday episode 46 will feature Chicago's own fireman turn real estate TV celebrities the down in brothers and episode 47 will feature all Hometown Greenburgh New York's own super star NFL agent Greg Barnett. So make sure to tune in to both the one you're going to watch now and Friday at 5 piece. All right, guys, welcome back eyl Hometown Heroes addition its shots and shots and shots and was going on. So yeah, so, you know the first Hometown Heroes that we did was in Houston Astros, Houston. You think about these down child to H-Town shot a child to Mike Brown and shout-out to Chris Senegal those offers Hometown hero. So if you if you know on your leisure, we traveling around all of our major markets and we touching it the people and when we when we touch the town we try to do a couple of interviews with people that are doing big things in the community. Dr. Mike many had a big campaign and I'll tell everybody that supported his went Foundation man. That was dope. Yeah for sure. That's a fact so so all right. We're in Chicago and we had to tap in with the good Brothers at Downing Brothers Southside to be exact South Side saying right. That's it. So Anthony and Anton say that correctly, right? That's right. Okay, so just left out of H in a while. So first and foremost, thank you guys, man. We appreciate ya. Absolutely. Listen to the podcast. I dream one day that I was here dreams come true. Yeah, yeah, so we actually kago when we on the south side. We in 79 79 street, right? Right the leg 11 Darius every night. She shot the Chance the Rapper. He says 79 79. So yeah we out here we out here. So, all right. These guys are legends in the community. So they're firefighters by trade and they are celebrities because now they are on HGTV. They have their own show on HGTV and they're real. Estate Investors, they're very interesting been guys. And so we're going to talk about a lot of different things with them. But before we start well, the first segment I want to talk about is that a lot of times we talk about entrepreneurship and business and a lot of times what stops people from being an entrepreneur being business owners that they you know, it's kind of risky to just jump out there and you know, you have a 9 to 5 job or a regular job the thing that one of the things I like about you guys is that you do both right? So your firefighters and you're still firefighters, right? Then you're on TV and Estate Investors, so we haven't covered. This is a very interesting job because I'm a financial advisor and I work with some firefighters in New York and firefighters have been good. They make they make they make good money. They they have strong unions, especially in New York. We have a very strong cargo fire they get a pension and they only work like two days a week. I know it is like, you know, they work like 24-hour shifts like to 24 hour shifts. So what happens is now you have like five days when you're not working which leaves a lot of time where you can do other things, right? So is that how it is in Chicago? Yeah, that is a great synopsis there definitely is a worked to our advantage to have that time off because I mean, we essentially you work eight eight to nine 24-hour shifts a month. So we I like 22 days off and the question is what are you going to do with that those 22 days that you are free to do what you want and then eventually real estate enters the picture for us. So, all right. So come out the fire department. This is something that we Especially in our community is not enough black firefighters, right? So what a what got you guys into the fire department and like what are the steps that people can take because I think even stuff like that is there you goes to become a firefighter because like I said it is as well. I mean, so the origin story for the fire department part of our stories back in 2006. I was fresh and fresh out of college. I was actually almost educator I start off and education. Yeah, and I was coming driving home and I still live at home with my mom. No shame in that. You know I'm saying I was out of college and my first job and I was saving up money and she said it can you get a gallon of milk on the way home? So I stopped and I was at a red light and I saw this big CTA bus with a sign on the side of it. To answer the call. It's like it had like the website and had a firefighter on it and you know in education at least especially during that period of time and even right now, you know, they do these like big layoffs and you know, I'm like hey what if I get if I lose my job because you know, the youngest people on the job. I don't want to go first, you know, and I was like, well, I need a plan b or something and when I saw that I was like, oh that's interesting never thought about becoming a firefighter, but maybe I'll check it out. I look at the website. I go into the parking lot of the jewels grocery store. I walk in and right on the on the door. The automatic door was the same size. It was an eight by Eleven on the door. I answer their call. So it was it was kind of like it was kind of biblical almost was like, let me get this down to milk her be get home. I got home. I looked it up. I looked it up and I saw you know, I saw the Union contract. I saw the pay. Um, I saw It must be normal, you know, it would look like an adventure because I'm you know, I'm physically gifted so I was just like, you know, it'll be you know something fun. But I also you know, I can pay the bills and and on top of that we talked about this they got a strong union, you know, you never see, you know, firefighters getting laid off or whatever. So and I asked my mom I said Mom, let me see sign up all my brothers like give me the social security numbers. He's doing that kid can't even ask none of us. Has everybody first year here. Everybody says so you guys are twins and we have two younger brothers. Yeah, Tony and wha Andre that out. They're not twins. All right, not so now I was the only one who was too young to take the exam. So I signed everybody up to take the exam. Unfortunately my twin brother and his wisdom look. Not show up to take these look good. Look. My dad was CPD. He was Chicago police officer. So I was thinking like that's what we know. I'm doing take police exams. Well, I'm not gonna take no exam. I was I was up here waving my degree like I'm going to use this degree. What was it degree in history? Okay, so, you know what, I would be teacher to it did not work that way for the Eleanor a lottery doing experiential marketing for $32,000 with No health insurance whether you that the Green Man used to say he should have took my advice and sat down next to me man exam exam and I walked in to replace. It was 20 something thousand people there to take this exam. How many people's money hiring they ended up hiring I would say about a thousand people out of 20 off of that particular list. Wow, you know, and this is back in 2006 and I had to send the list for two years, but I was number five 54 out of like 17,000 plus that He passed the exam. So I mean it was a it was just a blessing like I didn't I just didn't realize and I didn't know that I would like hitting the lottery who said next to you at the exam. Well, I actually have to my right it was an empty seat with his name on it. Then I was sick when he got that letter. I was like, I can't believe I didn't take that test and my social security number is like almost exactly the same as his so I would have been in the same class with him. So then I was like, okay it's time for me to start taking exams. Right but that you talked about the written exam, right? It really is but people kind of Overlook the physical exam because I know we have a lot of we have some friends and I town of Greenburgh that have been volunteer firefighters for years and they just can't pass a physical part. How demanding is that? These ambient actually has changed in the last 10 years because now they've gone to a national call the CPAC where everybody say what it was a different thing than Canada candidate. Who is CPAC candidate physical ability test right and it actually is rigorous like because I mean you have you have to walk with a weighted vest like a 70 50 pounds 70 pound weighted vest on a you know, I think about right now track. No. No, I don't drink on the treadmill treadmill and that's actually the hardest part because after you get done with that with that, well, no no, it's the StairMaster. I mean the StairMaster, right? Yeah after you get done with that StairMaster with the wait if that's useful. So tired that even though the rest of the course is relatively simple as far as you being able to raise a ladder and use a pipe pole and crawl through a tunnel through a tunnel. All of that stuff is super hard after you've had that weighted vest on and you get on that on that for three straight minutes or so. But so you I mean like everything else in life though you go on YouTube is there so you can train for what you need to do when he came to the written exam. They actually give you the source material so you can actually study for that. So what's on what's on the retina what's on like the Exam is it like science? It's not know that re-exam is not hard. Well, look, we talking about Chicago but he's so cockles exam is literally, you know, you read it and you answer those multiple choice questions. If you can if you can read that it's all right, you have absolutely brutal battles have to definitely pass that. If you can read and comprehend, but that's not but that's not if you're going to the those slides are y'all know slightly questions on there. They have friction loss and things that I feel that like the exams a lot harder because that's when it's doing is taking the Dalton fire exam and Dalton physically border Chicago to the South so, you know, that exam was way of I like Central centrifugal pump. It was not like this one on the Chicago is now at least according to Anthony, but the blessing about it is when the list came out unlike Anthony being 5:30. I wouldn't 537 anyone keeping my hands. Don't worry about it. And I wasn't 138. I wasn't 50 either. I was numbers for four out of nine out of ten thousand and they were no no. No, it wasn't it was only like 350 Parker. Okay, there's like a Suburban exam but then they they were only hiring six and I was number four and I was like, okay God you wanted me to answer the call he's act. So if you do need a costly six months later, do you need a college degree to be a firefighter? No, you need a high school diploma or a GED. So how much money can you make of the New York? I think you make like a hundred over a hundred thousand dollars might a hundred talking about a lot of money comes from overtime correctly. How did yeah, how's that? Yeah. Well how much? Do you expect to make an appeal? Well, Chicago just starting salary today 2019 as a candidate first day in the academy is 56,000. Okay. Okay. So you started 56,000 you get a pay bump at 12 months of $10,000. Wow. So now you have 66 after you made your probation, which is one year. Okay, you know I'm saying then you get steps every year from that point. Well, yeah every year from that point. So basically I've gotten a raise every year. Wow. So yeah, you hit the lottery. The thing is though as much as we're talking about money right now. Yeah. Well, sorry about the downside you actually do risk your life. Oh, yeah, you could - yeah, so there is no guarantee. The house is literally just right down. The block is 10 blocks down right here on 9th Street and two men that I have worked with died in the line of duty not to carry their cats. God bless. God bless these I do want to say that you know, it's a great job raising money. We enjoy ourselves. We laugh have fun. Yeah, great food at the firehouse all this in that assembly experience because one one of my actual classmates past June 10th of 2017 line of duty. So it's jarring sometimes in sobering as is dope is the salary is or the people that Pat you on the back when you're at the grocery store and all that type of stuff, but at the same time we have to To deal with that reality. Every time we go to work we might not come home. Do you said in Chicago a y'all like First Responders right to any type of any type of anything happens. We the first ones that somebody gets shot a fire truck or fire engine is pulling up, you know, it's just a car accident. We're pulling up hardened his heart attack anything that happens in the city because we're medically trained with the first ones for everything. There's a Hazmat incident somebody spills oil all over the expressway with their so I mean they call us the fire department, but we're really in awe. All hazards Department. Okay, all has is so we do everything so all right so--okay so you guys are Real Estate Investors, right? So what as I said would then with the firefighter is that you work only two days, you know, you only work two days a week. So it leaves a couple like five days when you're not working which leaves a lot of time to be creative and do different things right. So what made you was that one of the things that encourage you to become Real Estate Investors being at you has free time on your hands or like what got you into that and I was a challenge for my mom. Yeah, I got my first paycheck and I came on came home happy about it. And I think about this this that first paycheck. It was eight hundred and fifty four dollars. I thought I was a baller is like a month ago. I was in college at the University of Illinois. Right. He got his first paycheck. Don't be a momentous occasion. Do you have a 401k? I was like well, we can't start a 401k and till because actually I was at I was working a job for I was a career counselor child for okay, that was the first job Charles and job the job course, you have to be there for 12 months to get to start a 401k and she was like, well, I want you to start you know. Mint so she was like, you know, I want you to start with MetLife. I want you to take $100 a paycheck and put it into this retirement account and I'm like $100 only met Elgin the 54 and she was like no $100 has created this and she pulled she pulled out all of it. She was really transparent first time in my life. I'm you know, I'm 22. She put all her papers for each one of her retirement accounts out. One of them had a hundred and fifty thousand hundred sixty thousand in another one had like 50 Grand in another I have like 25 Grand. My mom wasn't playing. Yeah shit for different accounts and she showed me the statements in the balances and she said $100 a month from every job I've had since I moved to the United States has gone into the end no matter what job when I transfer the job, I continue paying $100 into that one and I had a hundred dollars into this one and this one and this one so like, you know $400 a check over the course of your entire life, since you've been here has gotten me to this point. So when I'm asking you to do is only what I've already done. I was like okay, Mom. I'll do it Jamie. The number I called is instead of my first, you know retirement account, but then in that same conversation, she said um hit him here come you. Not a real man. Whoo until you own the floor as you walk on damn I said, thanks, Mom. I'm going to show you so I start not only did I start that retirement account. I started putting money away because you know, I'm living at home and she only asked me to pay for like the utility bill, you know, whatever the electric bill and the rest of it. I was able to just put away. I put that money away and over the course of 18 months. I stayed up $6,000 and I had I got my credit score to like 666 80 something like that before I left and got my first apartment, you know, just cause I needed my own privacy mobile space whatever but because of that conversation it put us. They put me on track to have the ability to buy my first crib which I did at the age of 25 that's probable so I mean yellow born and raised in Chicago. Yeah, but Mom's from the Bahamas, right and that's all behind me. So I mean mom sound like she's she's been on point, right? It was your mom. What's your mom? Like when you have an immigrant parent man you realize that they are going to tell you stories like we have to walk all the way to school. Tell me about it. Walk back we had to help with What you know I Grace is stored, you know, we didn't get to go do whatever. Yeah, the beach was right there and we saw the beach we didn't go to the beach until Saturday, you know, like stuff like that. But yeah that did you have land out there as well. Yeah, we will do okay. We're building new construction. Well shout-out to the Bahamas to we know that they you know, they're recovering from the from the hurricane. Yeah. That's right last event that we had we were able to put together a palette and together with other Bohemians from the Chicagoland area. Yeah, the Bahamas Association of Chicago we were able to put eight thousand eight hundred pounds worth of water non-perishable food and clothes and send it to Grand Bahama. Yeah. So if you are listening, please they still need your help for sure for sure. God bless. God bless. So, alright. So now the second segment we're going to go into your yeah Star level shows that came about for sure. Ernest you currently paying off student loan debt interested in improving your financial literacy or looking for new ways to earn income and today's ever-changing digital landscape. Well on the talk money with the mesh lakhani podcast mesh will follow Paper Trails chat with experts break down complex ideas and bring Clarity to the mystical Financial phenomenon. Each episode will be filled with compelling stories covering a broad range of subjects from buying Bitcoin dealing with student. That and everything in between. So listen to talk money with mesh lakhani on Spotify or whatever you listen to your favorite podcast and learn how to spend invest in learn in today's economy. Alright, so now we're going to go into you know, yeah. Yeah local celebrity status and shout out to my God shamal Jeffries. He's from Chicago and he's a friend of awesome. We got before we got in. I'm like, yeah, you know, these guys are Downing Brothers the oh, yeah the guys they they from the South Side - but South Side, how is that Chicago impression? That was good the guy My gym shoes. I'm like, mr. Holder kicks. They like the gym shoes man. Oh my God, definitely columns. So you shot the shot town. But but yeah, so, all right. So your firefighters, right? Then you start your Real Estate Investors career, but then how did you get picked up to do a TV show? Like, how does that work out? Man, let me tell you it didn't happen on purpose. We were helping our cousin rehab this 6 unit apartment building when we got a call from Troika prior who who runs the creative Cipher here in Chicago and we went to college with him and he said yeah, I got this director that wants to do this torture saying and we need like like a basement or something like that. Are y'all working on any properties where y'all haven't finished the basement yet? He's like yeah man come on over to this building and we're working. Right now, you know over here and stop living in South Shore and so he comes and they look at both of the basements because he missed six you in the building so they kind of have like separated basements and as he's getting ready to leave he tires to us and he's like man y'all ever thought about doing a show on HGTV. Not at all, but he was being dance he was there and then he put he literally pulled out his phone and said Mommy. I want you to talk to Craig Harris man. That's one of my friend. But listen, you know, he's really serious in this in this TV industry. And yeah, he has a show out now in his hand the other he actually put us on speaker phone. He didn't give us a choice. He put us on speaker phone. And now we just like, oh hey, how you doing? No time like now. All right, so we started talking to Craig asses all these questions about What we do where we're from so on and so forth, you know, what properties we working on it. I guess the kids get to know our background and our personality and then after that he was like hey, well, you know what? I did you send me some pictures and a bio we did it that same night. He got he got real said to because everybody is so serious. We will miss her. I was gonna be serious. Yes. Yeah. So ey L is the educational platform and we kind of like dig deep and I think this is a good second to talk about as far as like people that might be Nina situation, right? What does it look? Like? What is the offer that they come with a first offer? Do you counter offer? Do they just say? Okay. This is like the flat rate we give people like how does that look? How do you know you're getting a good deal? Like you have a lawyer like? Yeah. How's that work out? So yeah. Well we had to go get a lawyer right away. Yeah, we got entertainment lawyer and then he explained to us what the industry standard is. That's like a keyword industry standard for what you get paid for someone who's in your exact position someone who's for us. No TV experience. Not any of this stuff before and he actually was able to tell us exactly how most people get paid right? And but it was a unique situation for us because we weren't just getting paid for as for being talented front of the camera. We also get paid on the actual true true, right, you know, and then all the resources that they give you when you're actually called explain that explain that so your they're giving you deals now no. No we had we had to find the property yourself. Okay? Plus we didn't have a hunch. % of like everything that they see TV, you know gives their talent because it was no yeah because you don't get all of that stuff until you go to series then they give you a much bigger budget. So like the Property Brothers their budget is out the wall. Yeah, that's as big as it gets. So like with both. All right, but what do you mean a budget? Like? Well, they have a budget for how much they will help to pay for the contractors that you or the materials that they can contribute to through their sponsors and things of that nature. So no, so Let's say that they all right. So they give a salary. Let's say $100,000 and they give a budget of $200,000 $200,000 budget you find the properties. They give you a budget 200,000 and you use that 200,000 actually fix fix up the home right now. You got to secure the property yourself though. It's still on you you have to schedule one of these one of the things I like about what y'all was doing. It was like opposed to that other shows like they were every time I watch it. It's like they find a property is 700,000. It's gonna be 250 to renovates 850 and when y'all Looked at it. You're like it. Listen man. No, we're not we won we don't do that. Like what we wanted to do properties in our own neighborhood. Right? And we want it to be authentic this it so you would and I read that I was just like look man y'all looking for properties obviously in your neighborhoods, right and it was like the properties are gone for like 200,000 250,000 that's more relative. Like we can reach that have had a property that's million dollars is not a table for us at this moment. More people can do the 200,000 at the 150,000. Yeah. I think I think you know, I'm listening to they all have callers like we've been on radio shows will call us call in and I think or we've had people, you know jump on and make comments on social media and I think the thing that they appreciated the most is like man just being everyday people being sincere being honest about what we're doing where we're doing and why you know and in not just being transactional but being transformative by we got to be like we have to actually care about our neighborhoods and not just try to get over you know, and then on top of that, you know, if anybody listens to you know, listen, Since our podcast or sees us at a seminar. We actually tell the actual numbers. This is how much the property cost ya. This is how much we had to bring the closing cash. This was the interest rate, you know, all of those different things because we want people to learn from our experiences. So it's not just oh it's not just entertainment but we want to educate so a TV deal. Is it like one year or is it like per season? How do they how do they how do they gauge like? Okay. This is what I never knew. For a second season, like how does that work? The team lead eels are much like the NBA or not liking it more and more like the NFL, you know, the government through the pilot was the only part that was guaranteed even though we signed a contract for the full season, but it does know we have two option. Yeah, how many episodes is a season? Generally either 10 or 12. Okay. So what you got paid for the whole season, even if they didn't know we only I hate for the pilot episode. Okay, right pilot was one episode 1 episode. Yeah. So after after the pilot it depending on the ratings of the pilot they were saying we're going to pick this up for a season, right? Okay ratings and the politics. Okay. Okay. Now something else got y'all do that. That is a very intentional right? You're hired people that look like us right and not just us but Allah so like women specifically Look, yeah, you notice that yeah. Yeah, man, I'll beat all of that was intentional because we knew we only had one shot like you really feel that way. Yes. So we've been watching HGTV since you know forever, you know, since we were in college and things like that, we wanted everyone to see that we really actually work with people that look like us that the neighborhood was our neighborhood things like that like, Young, you know, it was super important and we even as people were riding past whenever they saw all of those TV cameras in front of our in front of the house. We're working on they would stop and say hey what's going on guys? What y'all doing here that it? Uh, we spoke to him. I'm going to try to act all high and mighty and them like that. We let them know what's going on. I don't know what's going on. Why are we doing it? So on and so forth. So, I mean it's like so we can have that that positive social impact. Yeah and people feel included. And they understand why yo what we're doing is actually going to make the neighborhood better. And on top of that. We like we're not pushing, you know taking a $200,000 house and make it into a 500,000 won. And now nobody can afford to live in a neighborhood like overnight, you know, you know, so, I don't know we it's just common sense type of things, you know, even with the ottoman the city council member, you know, we got her involved let her know what was going on in be inclusive of everybody. So, I mean, that's why I try to use is kind of different so either. All right, so we talked about Publicist right was that part of HGTV packaging. Always that your own Braille, right? So what made you what made you decide you wanted to get a publicist? Well what we want to take control of my own narrative and take control of the direction and opportunities, right? Because you know, when you get an opportunity like this and you're on national TV not just local to you but National TV, you know, you got to start thinking about like, you know, how much exposure you can get how many opportunities you can and you know basically create out of that like Partnerships endorsements business deals, because other thing too is you got what happens on TV and you got what's happening in real life and you know, we want to continue to grow and create more than actual transactions for you know, our real estate business because we want to flip as many houses want to scale scale is a big word like scaling means you go from what doing just one house at a time to doing two or three houses to go into commercial properties and you know now once we were made aware because awareness is The biggest thing that's why this podcast is so awesome because it's like it may raise our awareness of all available to us so we can start pursuing those. Thank you those real. Yeah for really appreciate it. But you know, I mean I think about access over liabilities like we were like what assets can we create and what Partnerships can we create and that's why the public is getting us all that exposure open all of these doors that we currently and I'm publicist understood that we wanted to be on black platforms. Just as much as we're going. Be on ABC or WGN those things, of course you want to be on those two, but we need we want it to be on WGCI, you know a black radio station. We wanted to be on W vo n to reach parts of our community by WN kind of caters like them like middle-aged, you know, African-Americans and one night. So we wanted our publicist was able to get us into those spaces as well as like a big station. Yeah, it's crazy because like what y'all doing My man, Mike south of my like you always has a word that he sticks with so narrative is was it was like usually his word. He's like yo y'all changing the narrative because when we think especially from New York when we hear Southside Chicago, we think violence but y'all change the narrative are y'all seeing the impact and people are trying to continue like down your path as well speaking to that the neighborhood we picked hill hill was one is one of the best black neighborhoods in Chicago. So like when people got to see that they got Yeah you write for the first time. I got to see wow. They didn't go to Inglewood was where the people are shooting this stuff. I thought black folks lived in bad neighborhoods. Nah, we have good name. We have a good neighborhoods to support them. Oh, yeah, and then Seminars, right? We are in position now shout out to Jerry Greer and guarantee rate making it available for us to have seminars to educate people about home ownership and how to get financing and how to buy properties and do everything that they see us doing and that that's the thing making it available to people. Yeah, because with corporate sponsorship we were able to get so many more people an opportunity to get in on real estate the way we're getting in on real estate. It's a big need for people on Super excited. I mean just think about I mean just last night. We're at at the networking social how many people came out because they're really serious about starting a business owner property. Like there's a big Niche that it needs to be filled. There's a there's a problem that needs to be answered. How did you get how did you get the corporate sponsorship? Now that's actually kind of fell by accident because so so so Jaret Wright happens to be having a business meeting. Yeah, you know how you say you're making right answer we get it to make you rest. We were at jog real part of PSI and it was just like the second time I show is coming on TV, and we didn't want to be at home. And this is what you know any of that type of stuff we want to sit and eat, you know some West Indian food. Behavior we want to eat some West Indian food and watch ourselves on TV and then Jerry Rand one of his co-workers or colleagues. They were there for some type of lunch business lunch, whatever and he walks up to the bar because we were eating at the bar and he looks up at the screen and he looks at us like is that y'all exactly hit it thing about it is it's not like we did business immediately like we exchanged information. Yeah, it was like Five four five six months or something like that before we actually reconnected and then we you know kind of exchange ideas. This is what we want to do. We want to start having these live seminars to educate people about what we're doing and I think that it would benefit, you know his business and guarantee rate and so on and so forth and it's just it naturally it was a natural fit. Let's go. Yeah, so when you all right so as far as this is interesting conversation because when a day and age now where TVs kind of dying we talked about this off camera, right and it's streaming, but even not you too. Rightly, so it's like for you you're on you still on you're on TV, right? But you have a podcast and you do stuff outside of that as well. So for somebody that may want to follow your footsteps, right? Is it more beneficial to be on a network or is it more beneficial to start your own thing to Independent on YouTube or the streaming? Like what's what's the difference is and what's your what's your personal take on it? Because you actually have a TV show on a network. So right so I think really you gotta start somewhere. I mean starting your own like a lot of people are becoming famous. Now you think about like little knives eggs. He was on Tick-Tock and blew up because he started his own content. You got to create your own content and create your own. Those and create your own opportunities. We are story was different because we weren't trying to do this and we kind of fell backwards into it and everything that even now we're continuing to just like be ourselves and then opportunities come to us and that's the other thing to be true to yourself. Don't try to be anybody else and create your content and be good and be of service to people. Yeah help. That's the biggest part with what are you doing? Don't tear people down be of service and try to be helpful and bring joy to this world, so I think create your own content and hinge start networking go to the conference's start meeting people who work in the industry publicist people who work in the MPR. There are people who are already doing things and already working in the spaces and you just got to figure out how you can develop relationships because relationships are everything everything that's happening in our lives because if you have a conversation with us a year from now when I don't think we really prepared to talk about what we're doing right now, but a year from now you're going to see it and it's all because of the Just we have data now our create an opportunity for us to move from residential to commercial. I think the big thing is that oftentimes when you look at at hip-hop or if you look like a black folks and other apps aspects of entertainment. We're big up in ourselves constantly. Look at this Crystal. Look at this Mansion. I'm living in or all that type of stuff. But until your conversation is about how you going to tell other people how they can get what you got. You know, it stalls like our biggest thing that we're doing right now is telling people how to get the multi unit buildings that we have that translated into flipping the cash flow and cash flow and all those type of things and showing people the numbers and saying you can do this as well. This is not about us trying to floss on y'all. Right? But no, I mean I'm looking at how you guys shot to the truck to the top my observation of what's Happening. Where are your leisure is that you are providing a service? Education so people and people become supporters of you and they reshare repost and share everything that you got going on because back because you're helping me with my it's the it's like what is it what's in it for me? And if you can answer what's in it for me for the person who's sitting across from you or who's on the other side of the TV screen or your phone? That's how you get where you want to be as far as if you try to land a TV show being on radio or whatever your dream is hashtag big facts. This is a public service announcement. Yeah. That's a perfect segment. To our next topic. I know exactly what you got to talk about what you guys are doing and we're gonna break down some numbers, hopefully, so hey, we got to talk about that for sure. What's up, y'all? So if you're listening to this you obviously like podcast and you probably like music just as much on Spotify. You can listen to all your favorite artists and podcasts in one place for free. You don't need to premium account Spotify has a huge catalogue of podcast on every topic including the one you're listening to right now on Spotify. You can follow your favorite podcast. So you never miss an episode premium users can download Load episode to listen to offline wherever you are and it's really easy to share what you've been listening to with your friends on Instagram. If you haven't done so already be sure to download the Spotify app search for Ernie Leisure on Spotify or browse podcast in the your library tab. Also, make sure to follow us so you never miss an episode of Ernie Leisure again. Alright, so now we're going to go into what you guys actually are on TV for as far as you know, fixing up homes and flipping homes and shh. I go specifically in South Side Chicago right now Sierra you focus on all right, so, okay. So what's the real estate opportunities because in Chicago where in Chicago so I think it's important to talk about how like that yeah before we start anything with how is this with Chicago real estate look like and what's the real estate opportunities in Chicago? There are a lot of opportunities in Chicago man. We have one of the hottest markets in the country, right the question is, you know, it's just how are you starting and if you do have your your credit and your money saved up, you know, I'm saying as a first-time homebuyer this there's an enormous amount of opportunities and we advise people that are starting off to go for cash flow go get that three or four unit of property or go get a 203K renovation loan or some kind of Fannie Mae construction loan so that you can get a properties below market value because there's thousands hope I'm not talking about hundreds probably this thousands of properties in the Chicagoland area. Yes that you can get below. Give value and renovate and then turn that into a cash flowing property or a property that you live in for a couple of years, you know people talk about how sacking now, you know living for a couple of years and then, you know sell it after two years and now you got this check and now you got Capital to start a business or get another property or doing multiple things. So you say below market value like what are we talking about? As far as numbers like some what's an example of like a home that you just recently flipped over something that you can like expect like, okay. This is something that is typical when talking about the one Okay, the Bronxville house you want some more? Yeah. Yeah. Oh, yeah. So yeah, so I got a 3,000 square foot Graystone single-family home with a gray stone gray stone. What is that like a brownstone? Okay, bro, so, okay, okay. Um got that for 200,000 got it below market value because the recession was going on and the guy was trying to sell it because he was in pre-foreclosure. So got it for 200 thousand and I used a 203K renovation loan for that property. So that allowed me to have the money to purchase the property for 200,000 and I also rolled in 30,000 in renovation. Now this property didn't require a gut rehab I mean 30,000 I did a couple of the bathrooms. I read it the porch and the kitchen and that's what I initially did met all of those things. Look brand-new didn't touch any of the drywall throughout the house. None of that type of stuff. That's not this is not a fixer-upper. So this yeah, so this was just updating fucking so great opportunity and you only put three thousand three percent down in five three and a half percent. So I came to that closing with $7,700. So $7,500 in the reason why is because I couldn't negotiate because it was the bank and it was a foreclosure I want to But I want to I want that to go with people said could we talk about 2 or 3 K loan actually which a Morrison but we didn't go through a real world example. So this is good. So you got two hundred thousand dollar property and then you had 30,000 per renovation cost. Right? So is 230,000 before long the 203k loan allows you to put 3 to 3.5 percent down but the 30k gets wrapped into the mortgage. Right? So three percent of 230 is like seven thousand seven. 75 so you got the renovation and the home for not including closing costs, but out $7,000 is how much the down payment was? Why can't we close the coils? How much was it was closing? I mean I came to closing total all in for 7700 how you roll that into the more? Yeah because it was all rolled in. Okay roll it in. So all right. Let's go to no actually actually rolled in. Three of the first month payments into the into the loan also, so I have to make my first payment and so I was actually moving into the property which was 90 days later. That's because you there was going to be updating the bathrooms right? Because all the updates. Okay, I'm sorry. Alright, so now speed it up. So, all right, you got the property for 7700. Now you have it. Now what now? I have it renovation needs to start just about immediately. So in that process I had already got three different contractors to give scope of work. Um, so then I can decide which one I wanted to work with as far as you know, just completing the work and how much still the materials would call seeing things and you make the contractors very honest when they know that they don't one of three indicating. What was that process like dealing with contrast was a lot of times people going to these deals and they said that's the toughest part is Right dealing with contractors. We always push doing these these 203k renovation loans because when you do a renovation loan, there is an inn. Inspector who comes behind the contractors on each draw or phase of the project. The money comes each draw. Let's say 30,000 you get 10,000 three times. The money comes to the homeowner that $10,000 to pay the contractor the contractor for the first draw has to do that $10,000 worth of work out of its own pocket. Okay, the contract has to put his own money up. Okay and has an inspector who comes to make sure that he's done to work up to cold before the money. Released to the homeowner to give to them for the next phase so they don't make their profit until they finished all of the work because they have to go through the first phase out of pocket. So now the homeowners protected so now that there's no contract to getting over on you or trying to convince you that the work is good enough quick question now because I'm thinking like you guys are firefighters and obviously you guys must know cold right did that did your experience is being firefighters? Hope you don't that process? Yes, because I mean well as firefighters to I mean we learn we learn about building construction. And we see a whole lot because we in the process of being a firefighter you see houses that are like button down and Destroy so you see everything and we tear out a lot of walls and ceilings and things like that. So we're kind of on the others side of it. Yeah, and then we also work with a lot of firefighters happened to be in the trades. So we you know, you learn a lot through that process also. So I mean the thing is it removed all the fear because you actually had this this inspector who comes and make sure that the work is done complete. So, all right so--okay so now you get you started. The bringing the contractors in what's the next step after that? Like how long did it take to fully renovated when we were able to get tenants in like what's the deal? Well, well this was single-family home. So I wasn't I didn't have to deal with tenants but I had 90 days to get the to get the work done and they actually got done in a shorter period than that. I think we were done in like, you know, 65 70 days or whatever. So by the time I had to make my first payment mortgage payment, I was able to move in move my furniture in and start you was living in. Yeah, I lived it. Okay. How long do you live there? I was. Therefore three little about three and a half years. My attention was to be there for two years because I knew that you know, after two years I will be able to sell the property no capital gains. And also I knew that my credit will go back up because I did short I did a short sale Community conclude that the condo that I had. I did a short sale on that after two years my credit went back up and it coincided with my ability to sell this property with no capital gains. Now, I was enjoying myself so much that I actually ended up staying for a little bit longer than I anticipated. We have so many poor she said, Toga parties and you guys were both living boils. You guys are both living in the problem. So, can you talk about that capital gains? You said that you two years you allowed your not to pay Capital Gains, right? So you haven't been at 24 months. That's the rule what is capital gains capital capital gains is the profit that you made on a property the difference between how much you pay for it and how much you actually sold the property for so the profit is the capital gain and so the tax on the capital gain happens. On properties that are not your primary residence or you haven't lived in as a primary residence for at least 24 months. So now that's why I knew I needed to be there for at least 24 months in order to be able to collect those capital gains which in this instance was Katie thousand dollars cash and then be able to man have the capital to move on to buy a multi-unit property and then start flipping homes and then partner with my brother. I really, you know start to do more than we had ever anticipated. So if if you don't live in a property for more In the year, you sell it but you use the proceeds to buy another home you start to pay Capital Gains, you know, you can do what they call it. 10:35. Yeah, buddy exchange, right? All right. All right. So okay that in the whole time that he was doing that man gyi. I'm also a mom. I am out of time unit buildings. While he's doing that right? So by the time he sold that property three and a half years later. I already had two three unit buildings in a cast for it. So it's like the two of us are like one like one person right? Because I'm implying one strategy. Yeah to being upside down to 30,000. I looked at the house ain't never buying a condo. In fact, I ain't buying a house neither. You know, I'm going straight for the multi unit. Apartment buildings. Thanks for making a mistake bro. Yeah, thanks to jump out there first. Yeah. The thing is Will begin learned though is we learned about the power of cash flow? And we learned about the power of buying properties below market value and and being able to get that cash and that leverage busted and be able to go now now I got this lump sum of money and now it's like, okay now let's buy another multi-unit property. So we for cash flow now, let's go, you know, we went hard money. Any, you know did a flip that way and then you know from there now the wheels are turning and now you're the next deal in the next deal more confidence, right? What confidence right things, you know things go wrong and those when you get burned when you touch that stove you don't have a touch it again. So like, you know different things that we learned about how we deal with contracts and stuff like that, you know, everything didn't just you know, shoot perfectly but it still was, you know, enabled us to make it to the point where we ended up on TV. How did you how much do you sell the property for? I understand land property for Refitting 36-foot 315 and you know, you want to give the exact 3816 thousand and five hundred or whatever ones but yes in two years you held up two three. That's so the hundred sixteen thousand dollar profit that you made right the three years and you got it for $7,700. How much is your monthly mortgage a monthly mortgage was like, I think it's like 1,400 as powerful is actually really powerful because especially in New York we paying rent for 1900 2,100 2,200 dollars a month where it where is that at? It's nice, right? What a 2021 is that is one bedroom. Okay. Thousand square feet no way maybe it wasn't three bedrooms and four bathrooms know maybe 900 square feet an eighty seven 700 square feet one bedroom one bathroom rope man, what you got? So you gotta you got a property for $7,000 paying under $2,000 a month and you held it for a couple years and made a hundred and some odd thousand dollar profit. I say that to say a lot of times people don't fully understand. How attainable Buying a home really is. Yeah Ken. It's different programs. And there's different ways. You have to educate yourself. That's one of the reasons of the podcast but it's not it's not as far-fetched as it may seem it was nice. I think I mean people I think people live in fear, right because they've never seen it like we like I said earlier it's like we first generation. So like we don't know what we don't know like people don't know that you these opportunities are out there. I had a question for you guys, but I was driving in on Uber and I was looking around in the cab driver. I'm like else. Southside is a year same thing. It looked like 20 years ago and I was like, I will see a lot of mom and pop stores. I'm like I said is this been entrepreneurs them in the community and retail space and Commercial types of space. So what is the future for entrepreneurs are these opportunities out there for them to body spaces? Like what does it look like, you know, we have a brother with a nail salon him and his wife have a nail salon and it's a mixed use space. They have a Section 8 tenant. Upstairs that pays the mortgage for the entire property. So what they make is pure profit. And I think that that's that's the future there. We need us to buy those mixed use buildings, whether there's two or three or four apartments above and then like to like storefronts in the bottom what we need to grab all of those. Yeah. And the thing is there are City programs that you can get assistance for buying homes. They are City County and state. So yeah, I mean the thing is you wherever you live. You have to look and see. Homeowner Assistance programs they are their faces when I had to come with that $7,700 and down payment there may have been some kind of assistance program. But you got to do your own research that could have paid that seventy, uh, you know, that $7,000 there are tons of those programs and then for business owners it right here in Chicago. I can remember the name of the program Chicago neighborhood something or another program that actually helps with well, they'll match how much money you need in order to renovate a property for your business. Okay? Right, you know so there are these programs out there do the research because they aren't there's money out there from the government to help you create your business and buy your property. So when we talk about Chicago, unfortunately, you know, a lot of times we people think about Chicago they hear about like the violence right especially on the South Side West Side. So but I will use driving an Uber and I was telling the Uber driver like where we was going and he's like, you know, where you going like no we going so I'm like no, I don't know where I'm going. He's like I start laughing. So what I mean to me, it looks just like the Bronx and every neighborhood is similar. So like what's one of the things that you can tell if people as far as like Chicago because we know when we come to the cities, we just don't want to stay in downtown. We want to touch like the real parts of the city and we want to we want to give encouragement to like we had negative stuff. But obviously this your perfect example of positive stuff that's coming out of Chicago. So like what is what is the hopes to change The Narrative of Chicago specifically and what? Is the direction that you see like as far as entrepreneurship or investing like is it something that is encouraging at the moment? I think it is encouraging. I mean, I think about the building that were sitting in to do this pocket, right? We're in the wood line right now. Yeah, so, you know how to dial out to the wind and almost the owns is fine. I mean, he he use his money to buy this property. He actually had the city assistance program to help fund this and he's an example and he's not the only one the thing is once you start to get it. Think about what circles you in we're always in these circles where we're talking to other people who are creating businesses and real estate and it's happening all around you. All right, and we do see people popping up with these businesses on the South Side there. Are these Pockets think about when you walk in here, it's really nice and it's not the only one you there's a podcast studio in this facility. There's a cafe downstairs and they do like pop-up restaurants in there and all of the pop-up restaurant owners are black, you know like that. That's what's coming now. And this is just one of I could think of several. Yeah, I mean shoot Lighthouse Mickey's Grill. Yeah, they have multiple locations. So Shaq is a like soul food restaurant choked out to the Bureau of our yap. Yap fly fly apparel. So I mean there they have these the oh sir, Madam. Yes, and what else clothing store clothing is on with two K20 digital. Yeah, these milk their clothes is made it in there. You can like the character. You can create you can put their the sir and Madam clothing on your character. It's so bright. I don't shout out to you all for doing what you're doing. So yeah, entrepreneurs can succeed in Chicago. They are great stories happened in Chicago. And when you look at the people that show up for you all's networking social and different seminars that we are holding. There's a lot to be inspired and to think that great things. Coming that's powerful man. So we want thank you guys first and foremost for joining us. Can you tell the people how to contact you had to watch your show any initiative that you have going on? Yeah. Our Instagram is the Downing Brothers, you know all won't work the deal W ni NG brothers and the same thing with our website the Downing brothers.com and you can catch us on you know, Instagram Facebook and our podcast. Homecoming with the downer Brothers, you know apples and then your TV show they'll bow down double down and so and be looking for where we end up next year because we will be moving around free agents. Perhaps create Troy. Yes, you have to everybody on patreon.com backslash and your leisure. That's how proud to pay program. Y'all know how this works man you up and supporting is so amazingly every time I we come on I'm saying a new person's name. So shout out to y'all it allows the The podcast the show I should really say to travel to come to cities like Chicago and get her go around the city and interview some Hometown Heroes man. Shout everybody in Houston who showed us love La shoulders love obviously Brooklyn Nets home-based a Shoal of Atlanta show love so we want to go to your city, man. So keep supporting ABS want to give a big shout out to David who just joined at tier 5. So shout out to him and Broderick who actually joined last night and we met him at the event. So he was like yo, that's me. I was like, I just typed you man. So shout out to Broderick and everybody that's been supporting that that's how proud of P program once again and try to everybody that's been supporting the merch in your leisure.com. We have everything on it our torch t-shirts on there. So Chicago tour that's up there people like oh well how you're picking the colors. So usually we tried like we said, we you know, we did with sports and entertainment in the business side. So what we've been trying to do is match it with the football team or the basketball teams colors. So we try to get both with the best colors in there, but we had a slightly technical difficulties, but shout out to everybody. D that extra support and on these.com getting emerge. Yeah, I need to get that access all over liability. Don't you know what got you we got you man? We grow someone that's here. And yes. Yes. So thank you guys for rocking with us. We will see you next week shot to Chicago be so pleased appreciate it. I thank you all for tuning in and don't forget Friday at 5:00. We're going to release episode 47 with super star NFL agent Greg Barnett. Make sure you like subscribe and comment. Peace.
Anthony and Anton Downing are twin brothers who were born and raised on the South Side of Chicago. They are both firefighters by trade. In addition, they became local celebrities when they struck a deal to have a nationally aired TV show on HGTV which featured them renovating and flipping homes in the area. In addition to being TV stars and firefighters, they're well known local real estate investors with a focus on South Side real estate. In episode 46 they educated us on how being a firefighter is the perfect profession to have multiple side businesses since they only work 2 days a week, they explained the process of how real estate show TV deals work and they explained the dynamics of what’s going on in the South Side and how contrary to what is shown in the media there is actually a lot to be encouraged about. We talked about how you can have a career and be an entrepreneur at the same time, real estate opportunities, and they gave real-world examples of how anyone can buy a home and renovate it with extremely low down payments. Guest IG: @thedowningbrothers  ---   This episode is sponsored by  · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app  · Talk Money With Mesh Lakhani Podcast: On The Talk Money with Mesh Lakhani podcast, Mesh will follow paper trails, chat with experts, and break down complex ideas to bring clarity to the mystical financial phenomena behind your finances. 