Clever Angle
Helping people find work that they love through the stories of others. Join host Tevin McGee as he interviews a guest from a different field of work every week to give the listeners a better understanding of what jobs there are in the market and the roadmap of how to get there. Come along on this journey as he searches for the answer to the question of is college in 2024 overrated? With the boom of online learning and swelling nationwide student loan debt Tevin is on a quest to better inform his audience of which career paths NEED to go to college and which paths may have a different way of achieving your goal. So if you are undecided on your future career or curious about a certain field and want to hear from people that are in the trenches of that career already then this podcast is for you.
Clever Angle
#49 From the Badge to Buildings: Embracing Change and New Beginnings in Property Management and Life
When life throws you curveballs, how do you catch them and toss them back? My neighbor and dear friend Patrick Patterson joins me in a heartfelt conversation that reveals just that—the resilience required to navigate life's transitions, from law enforcement to the dynamic world of real estate. As a new real estate agent and property manager, Patrick reflects on fatherhood, personal growth, and the ways in which his past fears have shaped his dedication to being a present and supportive family man. Together, we delve into the importance of friendship and continuous learning, sharing laughs and wisdom gleaned from our book club discussions.
Embrace the courage it takes to redefine one's identity, a topic Patrick knows intimately. He recounts the poignant decision to leave his career in law enforcement, the financial hardships faced during the transition, and the emotional toll of striving for stability while being a new dad. Our conversation takes a deep dive into how the value of time becomes ever more apparent when raising children and the pivotal role a supportive partner plays in weathering the storms of life. We also illuminate the balancing act of personal development, from embracing mental health support to finding joy in the simple mastery of cooking a new dish.
Ending on a note of inspiration, Patrick offers up a treasure trove of advice for those intrigued by the real estate and property management world. He shares his journey of education, from a non-traditional college experience to the hands-on knowledge acquired in home construction, underscoring the importance of practical learning in achieving professional milestones. The discussion rounds out with insights into the commercial real estate market, the daily life of property management, and the fulfillment found in creating successful, satisfied tenant relationships. This episode is a testament to the power of friendship, the relentless pursuit of passion, and the unwavering commitment to personal growth.
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Thank you to everybody for your continued support on the show. I wanted to take the time to personally thank everyone that's listened to the show and I hope you enjoy today's episode. Until next time, peace, and we're back with another episode of the Clever Angle podcast. Today I have a very special guest, one of my best friends, one of my groomsmen, my neighbor, even I have Patrick Patterson. He is a real estate agent and a property manager and he's one of my best friends. Patrick, how are you doing?
Speaker 2:Man, I'm doing good. How are you? I'm good man. Do you like that intro? I like the intro a lot. You're one of my best friends, man.
Speaker 1:I appreciate that, and I don't say that lightly. As you get older, you start to realize that your pool of friends shrink significantly. So I really appreciate the bond that we've been able to maintain over the time that we've known each other.
Speaker 2:So I agree.
Speaker 1:I'm excited to have you on because we are talking about one of my favorite subjects, which is real estate, property management something that I've always been kind of curious about, the kind of the ends and the outs and we get to talk about you, your upbringing, your opinion on college, the job market. We're going to get into all of that today. So, patrick, let's just start off with what are some things that you've been up to. Man, how's the family? How's?
Speaker 2:your life. What's new with Patrick Family's good man Family's good, got the four-year-old who's about to turn five, got the cheer competitions? Our daughters are obviously on the same team and so we get to do the cheer competitions often, and Courtney's in the midst of school rocking it out. I'm in the midst of getting started on this, being a real estate agent thing and still managing the properties we got, so I'm just trying to navigate the new waters man, absolutely.
Speaker 1:So I just got a quick question for you. We're both kind of in the same stage of life. Which one is more difficult in your opinion becoming a father or marriage For me? Yeah, for you. It was becoming a father, you elaborate a little bit. You don't have to get anything too deep.
Speaker 2:No, it's good, it's good, it's good. My biological father was not the best father. He struggled a lot so I did not have a relationship with him and so I never thought I would have kids or really wanted to have kids, because of my fear of kind of recreating that. And so when we found out Courtney was pregnant, it was a big, big mentor, cool obstacle for me to kind of get through, to accept fatherhood and to accept that I can be a good father.
Speaker 1:Well, patrick, I don't know if you hear this often, but you are a heck of a father and good husband and you're a great friend brother.
Speaker 2:I appreciate the gas man. Thanks, no problem man.
Speaker 1:We are here to gas you up. We are here to talk about everything, patrick Patterson, so would you just give a just a brief introduction of who you are, what you do and what we're kind of going to be talking about, which is your career?
Speaker 2:My name is Patrick Patterson, married with one kid, 29 years old, turning 30 this year. I am a property manager with my family company, Vincander Reynolds, and I manage mostly commercial but also residential property. We got about a little over 40 doors, I believe, and I just recently kind of started on this path of got my real estate license and now I'm a real estate agent with Century 21 portfolio here in Jonesboro and been doing that for a couple months now. I got my first listing representing a buyer on some things and I'm kind of rolling in that arena now too.
Speaker 1:No, that's really cool man. And, like I said, real estate and investing and things like that is something that I've kind of got like a book club with some of my friends, so my buddy AK and my brother and then you two, we'll throw you in there as well. We like to read books, we like to talk about them. You and me both read essentialism, and now there is another book that we're reading I will teach you to be rich is the book that we're reading. So, like every Monday, me and my brother and my friend AK will kind of discuss what's been going on in our week, what we're learning and that sort of thing. So we usually do it Monday morning and kind of check in. So what would you say is one of the things that you have been working on goal wise in 2024 so far?
Speaker 2:I'm really trying to put in my time. For the last four years or so I've been working hard with this education, kind of learning the ins and outs of real estate and kind of how to get involved in investing, managing property efficiently, getting good at that. Now I'm getting into the transactional side of real estate and I'm really trying to get my experience in, get my reps in there, so I can become a more well rounded real estate just in the industry, not even a real estate agent, but just completely in the industry, be able to know it all, do it all.
Speaker 1:When you say know it all. So what are some of the? What else is there in the industry? So obviously I'll just kind of tell you what I know about real estate. So I mean, it's just very basic buying and selling houses. I know that there's some kind of relationship with a broker. That's about it. As far as I know, as the work side of real estate, I know that there's different things that you can do, like flipping houses and different types of loans. So when you say know it all, what does that mean? What does all of that entail?
Speaker 2:That really entails not just the buying and selling real estate, that's like the transactional side of real estate but then you got running those properties, being able to fix those properties, being able to develop them, like if you're just purchasing raw land, being able to develop and put on multi-family or put in a single family or put in commercial or all the way up from dirt raw land, leveling it, putting a building on it, putting people in it if you want to rent it out, selling it, fixing it. All that is kind of where I'm trying to get to is being able to just completely get all of it.
Speaker 1:It's so interesting because I was kind of having this conversation earlier and a lot of industries, a lot of things, a lot of businesses are multifaceted. So if you have a restaurant, for example, you were going to get the food from somewhere, but somebody else is going to do the landscaping, someone else is going to maybe provide the plates that you use, there's all these facets that come together to be able to have a restaurant or any type of business. So that's just interesting. That real estate is the same way you said from the development side to the building side, to the renting it out, there's a lot of moving parts that you want to be able to master, to kind of get your hands around all of that. So before we get into kind of your day-to-day what you're doing, I like to go back, I like to hear your story. So can you tell me a little bit about what it was like growing up and was real estate even on your mind when you were like a kid, 15, 16 years old?
Speaker 2:I wanted to be a police officer. My adopted dad was a police officer. He was a great one, he is a great one, and so that's all I really ever wanted to be.
Speaker 1:So you wanted to be a police officer, and when did that kind of change? Did you ever become a police officer, or how did you get from? That's what you wanted to be, to kind of pursue in the property management and real estate side of things.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so I did.
Speaker 2:I worked pretty hard and started off in dispatch and went to the jail, then marked my way up to transport and then eventually on patrol and I got to do a little bit of time on patrol and I got to live that. And what changed was in 2019, when we found out Courtney was pregnant with Carter. It was like I was saying earlier in the podcast it was a big mental leap and I had to make an adjustment to come to terms with being a father, and at that time I started dealing with some little stomach stuff too that I'd never really dealt with before, and so there was just like a totality of all these situations happening that kind of led to this I guess for lack of a better term like kind of mental breakdown a little bit. I did only a lot of panic attacks, anxieties and stuff like that. So I ended up deciding that the best thing to do would be to leave that life behind me and focus on accepting, becoming a parent and being a good parent and kind of finding a new identity.
Speaker 1:How long were you in that career before you decided to switch?
Speaker 2:Four to five years maybe. Yeah, four to five years. I started in dispatch in Texas and Did that and then when we moved back to Cabot I started in the jail at Lonoh County and, you know, made my way up to the transport side of things and I did. I did a little time on the patrol side.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I really admire you for that, because you know there's a lot of people that have like this dream job Look when they're kids and a lot of us don't really get to. It's either changes or we don't get to do it. You know, when I was in eighth grade I wanted to be a starting point guard for the Detroit Pistons. Obviously that didn't happen, so still time yeah.
Speaker 1:So what was it like, man? What was it like Wanting to do this, wanting to emulate, like your dad? You know, for a lot of us, our dads are our first heroes. You know what I mean. So what was it like when you actually got to Be in law enforcement like was it like a surreal moment. What did it feel like your dream job?
Speaker 2:Yes, like broadly yes. So I got to, luckily, my dad I worked for the county, my dad worked for the city and so I actually got to hang out my dad quite a bit on some things, and that was that was a. That was like a good check off. The box is just being able to do some stuff with my dad, and it was in terms of helping people, like that's all I've ever watched my dad do, that's ever. All I've ever wanted to do was just help people and I enjoy that, and so being able to help people was awesome. But then you know, there's the other side of it where it's like there's some people that end up not being able to be helped, and then there's, you know, you end up having to arrest some people and you see that side of it too, and that kind of it puts a damper on your opinion of society. I guess and you know, if you're not careful, it can it can it can completely change your perspective on society.
Speaker 1:Yeah it's. It's so cool because I didn't really get that. I really I didn't know that before that there was some time that you got to be in uniform and get to do some things with your dad, and that's something that I've got to experience with my brother as well, that you know, me and my brother and my dad have all worked for the same company for the last five or six years, so that's something that I never would have thought would that would have been on my bucket list. But now, just being able to interact with them in a Different way, because you know, when you're growing up and your dad is in in the house and over you, like there's just a certain type of relationship and Getting to see him in a different light and getting to see him around his friends and, you know, getting to have that Mature relationship with something I always treasure, you know so, and seeing him, like I bet seeing it like cuz.
Speaker 2:I mean getting to see you grow up. You look up to your dad and all of his friends and then you find yourself like become. I guess you could say like that respect Did like almost appear, yeah, yeah absolutely.
Speaker 1:I mean there's, there's guys that I've legitimately known For 25 to 30 years and you know they've always known me as like, just like a little kid. You know little Tevin, exactly, and, and you know, there was this this time, this past week I was talking to one of my dad's friends.
Speaker 1:We got a chance to work together. His names Eric and we were. We were doing a lot of work, eric and we were. We were doing a reset in a store and you know he told me how old he was and I was like dude, how are you like just now out of your 40s, when I legitimately have known you my whole life? You know what I mean. So it was kind of one of those full circle moments that I'm like man, like this person has been one of those people that has legitimately seen me grow up and now it's kind of kind of come full circle. But yeah, so that's something that we share and I and that's cool to get to, to kind of get to talk about that on this podcast. But going back to you and your journey, so you said you kind of had to find a new identity. What did that process look like for you?
Speaker 2:It looked rough like, especially at the time I was dealing with a lot of like mental stuff, and so you know, there's this like phrase like retraining your brain and stuff like that. It was a lot of that. I started this program, uh, where I was pretty much locked in my office while my wife was pregnant for about Three to four hours a day, when I'd get off of work and so spend most of the evening in my office Like working on this program to try, and you know, change my thought processes and kind of accept being a father and um, you know, then it led to all right, the realization that we need to leave when we were living at the time and move to a different area which would end up becoming jonesboro. Um, that was kind of more supportive and uh, so we, when we moved to jonesboro, I started working at a factory At night. Where did you work? At? Hytro? Really, hytro was my, hytro was my first uh like job.
Speaker 2:As soon as I got to, um, as soon as I got to jonesboro and courtney was still pregnant, she was like seven to eight months pregnant and she had to stay and finish her contract in jacksonville, so she was at home alone in the house that we owned two dogs, her being seven months pregnant. I had sold everything in the house and uh yeah, and so you know, pregnant, two dogs alone in this house, I just sold everything, uh, to kind of like get ourselves. We had gotten ourselves into crazy debt from being young and so Sold everything to kind of take away that debt and just get a fresh start. And I moved here, lived with my family and worked nights at hytrol and um.
Speaker 1:What all did you sell and how long were you working at hytrol for?
Speaker 2:I so. So I only worked at hytrol for maybe three to six months and I sold couches, recliners, dressers, washer dryer, everything. Uh, washer dryer came closer to the end when courtney moves, but, like she, there was no living room furniture. She pretty much just had a bed and, um, yeah, I just I sold everything else that we had, besides, of course, carters, you know, nursery stuff that we had building up, but everything else personal I sold, and, uh, she's a saint for riding through that with me.
Speaker 2:Uh, because it was like, I mean, it was that time, that nine months of her being pregnant and then the three to six months after that was probably the darkest time of my life, I'd say in terms of just like when, especially going through the mental stuff that I had, which, hindsight 2020, ended up being great. But like Working at hytrol, you know, especially the midnight shift, I'm a very much a sunlight positive Person, and then, on top of that, I love talking to people, and you can't do that when you're working at hytrol at nights. You have to have your earbuds in, you're just doing your thing, and so it was a lot of time where I was just trapped with my own thoughts, which I hated at that time I couldn't stand, and so it was necessary like it was a necessary time that God put me in for a reason Because I needed to be trapped with my thoughts. I needed to be with my thoughts and be able to process things myself. But it was something I just couldn't stand, and so yeah.
Speaker 1:So what did it look like when quartney finally got there and then you guys had carter? What did that next chapter look like?
Speaker 2:for you. It was a. It was a crazy cool chapter. I'd gotten, I'd gotten enough money to get us an apartment, and it was. She moved here. She was going to get induced on a monday. She moved here that saturday. And so that saturday she moved here on monday. We had to move, we had to drive all the way back to little rock to be at the hospital so she could get birth and get induced. And she gave birth and by this time I'd already like kind of Been in a much better mindset about being a father. So it was pure excitement and fear. You know the normal stuff that you're supposed to fear, feel. And Just when I saw her the first time, dude, that's, I mean, you know, that's when everything just changes. It's no longer a question mark. It's like you see your purpose right there and everything else, nothing, nothing matters at that point.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you really don't understand until you have kids how much they really change your life. They change your, the things that you want to do, that. They change the, the psychology of how you spend your money. They change how you see your wife like man. Like my wife went through this experience and was able to Give birth to this perfect little human. That that is just an absolute joy and, you wonder, wonderful add to our lives and stuff. So, um, yeah, I absolutely get it like. Being a father is one of the most influential, magical times of my life and you know, I've been blessed to have two little girls. So you give birth to Carter, you're in a better headspace. What is that looking like for work?
Speaker 2:for you at this time. So at that point I kind of switched gears and started working for Ritter, a little right before, right before she moved down, and uh, worked for Ritter communications, which that was more kind of what I was used to like. I had my own work truck and I was kind of running my routes and installing internet and cable and that's, you know, with law enforcement before that. And then I worked at AT&T before I did law enforcement in texas like just having that that was my normal and so I got to enjoy that. Um, when Carter was born and Courtney was able to be with Carter and we stayed in this little apartment that we had and uh, it was hard financially because I wasn't getting paid a ton of money. Were you in Jonesboro, were you?
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:I was in Brooklyn, um, I was in the witton creek apartments in Brooklyn and um, working for Ritter installing, you know, internet and uh, yeah, it was. It was rough financially but it was like it was cool because it was me and Courtney the first time alone with our kid, and it was, it was a surreal adjustment. I, like a lot of Courtney's kind of a badass is a badass. There's just no doubt about excuse my language To the, you know, staying up with a kid letting me, you know, graciously letting me sleep so I could be up for work the next morning. And you know it was a, it was a cool time. I honestly, I look back on it and it's very Like flashing memories. I don't have very vivid memories at that time because it was such a Transition time for us, you know those just it's heavy.
Speaker 1:It's so interesting because I am a firm believer that, like during those time, during that time when your kids little and you know you're going through all the things for the first time, you're sleep deprived, you know they're crying, breastfeeding, all these things, like you really just look up and then it's over.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you know from surviving, and the next thing you know, it's like you're conscious again. It's like, okay, how long was I out for?
Speaker 1:exactly, exactly it's just weird because I mean, time just passes by so differently as you get older and then you know you really start to want it to slow down. Yeah, you really do, especially when it comes to your kids learning and doing things like my. Ilari came home and she had homework today in kindergarten. I'm just like we're helping our kid with homework in kindergarten.
Speaker 2:Wow.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean, it's just it's a surreal thing they even even think about, because I mean, I still feel like a kid and a lot of aspects of my life and still look to my parents for guidance for Pretty much everything you know. So we're just kind of in that weird Transitional phase where we're still figuring things out. You know, we've got parents that are getting older, we got kids that are growing up, we've got Friendships that we're still hanging on to, trying to make a priority, and it's just a a wild, wild time in our lives. So you, you're moving to Jonesburg like you're, you're working at Ritter. How, when does this start to this thought process start to to change from I'm just doing these jobs to kind of survive, what I'm used to, you know, getting back into to something that's comfortable to? I want to find my passion. I want to find something that I want to do, like, when does you go into school?
Speaker 2:coming to this, so During that time job wise, career wise I was doing whatever, got the bills paid and just focusing on my wife, my daughter and like myself personally. So focusing on the home life, getting that healthy, getting my mental state healthy and then once I felt like I was good there, that's when this opportunity opened up. Courtney was working at a school. This opportunity were opened up for me to go and work there and have a more stable position and IT that was gonna offer me a pretty big raise if I got my degree that they would let me work through. I was there and it was a significant pay cut To do it.
Speaker 2:But my wife and my family were like this is it like you've been? You've been. I never thought in a million years I'd get my degree and teachers would agree that I'll. And so when the opportunity presented itself, my family was like you've got to do it. You know We'll support you. You can move in with us, bring your wife and your daughter move in with us in our house, work on this, get your degree and Find your, find your identity, find your passion, stick with it and, you know, do what you do.
Speaker 1:So when this is all happening, I'm sure there's like a flood of emotions that is going through you right now. I believe it happened in two days actually.
Speaker 2:I was, I was at work and it was right before Thanksgiving and and it was I'd gotten a phone call saying that they were gonna offer me the job and that they could only pay me this very little Amount but the possibility of getting double that. Once I got my degree and I called my wife, she was like that's, that's hard, we can't do that. I called my aunt. She's like that's an extremely hard thing to do. Let me call you back, I'd say. Eight hours later Maybe, she called me and she's like look, here's the deal. We're gonna Offer you this opportunity. You can take it if you want. It's up to you, courtney Carter, you can come in here, move in with us, focus on your debt, focus on your job. You have to be in school, you have to get your degree, you know and get it together. I mean like that's how supportive they were. It was just a matter of boom. As soon as the opportunity presented itself and it seemed like it had good future potential, it just my family kicked into gear.
Speaker 1:Well, what was that like, that conversation like between you and Courtney, when this is happening, because I'm picturing myself in the same situation and I'm Proudful to a fault which I know is, you know, can be my a detriment at times, but I, I don't know if I can mentally Move myself in with like family, like, except like I just have I just have a hard time accepting help. You know what I mean. So what was that like when you, you sat down with your wife and you had the conversation of this is what we're gonna do. It's gonna help us in the long run. We're you know, obviously it worked out Like what did that look like it?
Speaker 2:was a. It was a difficult one, but it's like we both knew in our stomachs that it was the right one. Me and Courtney had At this point. We were used to just frequent change. We were moving every year. It was. We were just used to just frequent instability, and I'm a big risk-taker in general, so I kind of fly the seat of my pants.
Speaker 2:It was a a task to kind of knock myself off that independency pedestal and admit that Truthfully, I failed being being an adult from 18 to 22 or whatever it was, when I moved in with them. During that time I failed as being an independent adult and if I Wanted to not continue to fail, if I wanted to get better, I had to knock myself off of that pedestal, accept accountability and Kind of just relearn, like I'd already kind of luckily I'd already done a lot of work on kind of breaking myself down with the whole mental stuff that I was going through. That it was. It was easier for me to like outside, looking in, to be like Patrick, you need this. This is, this is unique. This is something that's being, this is something that's being presented to you. That's a good opportunity for you to continue to grow.
Speaker 1:You keep making references to Getting your mental Stability right. What did that entail? Did you go to therapy or anything, or is it like a book or something you read or like what was it that kind of pulled you out of that, that dark place so?
Speaker 2:There was a. There was levels, layers to it, for sure, but the one there was like a Dennis Simpsack is his name and he used to be a, you know, tennis professional tennis player had just you know and then he ended up suffering. He ended up having to deal with some pretty crazy performance anxiety, health anxiety, stuff. Anyway, he ended up becoming like this making this digital program.
Speaker 2:That was very holistic and that was kind of the program that I needed because, you know, my family history has a lot to do with prescription abuse and so being on medicine was just not something for me mentally that I could do, and so I needed a more holistic approach, and so he offered that and I dedicated myself to his program. His program was incredible and then, through that came therapy, through that came books, through that came an incredible. My wife, courtney, was an incredible support from day one. When I told her that I wanted to do this program, she was like as long as you stick with it, go for it. And and so, yeah, I've still got all the books you know to this day that I still like to reread every once in a while.
Speaker 1:Okay. So now you've made the decision You're you're gonna go to school. How did you pick what you wanted to do, and didn't matter what degree you got for the show?
Speaker 2:Yeah, they, I think they wanted me to do because it was an IT job. They wanted me to do something IT related and they Wanted me to be there forever. They were a tight-knit group who had all been there for many, many years and they were kind of letting this newbie come in and hoping that I would be there forever too. I, unfortunately, I knew when I was getting in there this was not forever for me. This was kind of a stepping stone, and so I took it as an opportunity when I got there, to find the degree that I wanted to do, which ended up being business administration, and then kind of just invest and focus on that. How?
Speaker 1:long were you at the IT job before you decided to move on to something else?
Speaker 2:A year and a half, maybe two. Yeah, maybe two. It's like right at right when COVID started. I think the second semester of COVID is when I quit, maybe.
Speaker 1:Okay, so just tell me about that. So you started this school journey into like originally hopes of getting more pay at this IT job. Obviously, it's four years to get a degree. You're about halfway through your degree at this point when you decide to leave that job. What did that look like? What did that last two years look like for you? You're still in school, and then what did your next adventure look like?
Speaker 2:It looked good. I mean honestly by that time, by the two years in, it had switched from those general education like where I messed up because I didn't pay attention much in high school. I wasn't a great student and so I had to relearn a lot of those things that you learned in high school the first two years and then after that it was all my good elective dependent, like all the stuff that was like degree related, and that stuff lit a fire in me because it had everything to do with business and real estate and so it was easy to go to work and do my school work because it was everything that. It was what I was wanting to do.
Speaker 1:So what were you currently working at when you kind of got into that groove of all right school starting to pay off? I'm learning the things that I want to learn, and where were you at in your career journey then?
Speaker 2:So right when January 2020 is kind of when I January 2020 is when I left the school district and we had just started a retail store and so having that business, starting that business off running is I was kind of taking all those things that I was learning in school and applying them either same day or day later and you know, it was really kind of just experience with education right off the bat.
Speaker 1:So you're a non-traditional student at this point because obviously you're past 18. It's not like straight from high school to college, the college to live up to the height for you. Like you know, I think when I was going into college I had a preconceived notion of what it was going to be like, how, the things that I was going to learn, and I ended up coming out with a different perspective that I went in with Two years in. You know, you kind of had a delayed experience. What was that college experience like for you? For?
Speaker 2:me it was hybrid and so it was like sometimes it was on Zoom, sometimes it was just online, I think once or twice I went into a classroom tutoring I did in some classes and stuff like that, and so it was like the one thing that I missed out of the traditional education that you know everybody typically gets is just the camaraderie, the networking that you get, the friendships that you gain. I didn't get that. I got a lot of. I got a lot of the retention of knowledge. That was the cool part.
Speaker 2:That was kind of the takeaway is because I was working in business at the time when I'd learned something like I said I'd apply it pretty quickly and so, and then once you apply something right after you learn it, it's typically it's retained in there and so it was good for me. But then there's like that 20, 23 year old young man and it's like I'm in college, I'm supposed to be, even though I was a little older, it's still. It was like that young man and me fighting like dude, you're supposed to be having some fun, but really I was grown married with a kid, so you know, had to kind of put all that to the side.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, absolutely, and it's just. It's interesting so at this point when you're in college, about you know, going into year three, almost did you know you wanted to do real estate then, yeah, and I knew.
Speaker 2:So I knew, as soon as I started my real estate degree I had a class on. I had a class on like appraisal and investing and stuff like that. And that's when it kind of clicked, because I had gotten into the bigger pocket stuff some years before when I first got into police, because being a police officer they don't pay you very much at all, and so there's, you always have to have some kind of side gig, and so that was kind of what I was looking at, towards my side gig. But it was kind of one of those things that maybe I will, maybe I won't ever achieve it. And then when I started my degree program and I took that class, I was like, oh, I can do this, I can do this and I think I can be kind of good at it if I really just like put my time into it, because I did have a, I have a love and a knack for people and I also feel confident in my ability to understand real estate.
Speaker 1:So did you at this point? Did you still want it to be a side gig or is this something that you ever planned on doing full time? And the reason I asked that is because, if it was going to be a side gig for you, explain to me why you just went ahead and got the four year degree, because you don't have to have a degree to be an agent, right?
Speaker 2:No, yeah, no, you don't. You don't have to have a degree to invest or be an agent or anything like that. The degree, finishing the degree, came from this like inner fire. You know not many people in my family, especially in my direct family, my immediate family they didn't have their bachelor's degrees. I became the first.
Speaker 2:That was a big motivator and you had you know, like you were talking about that pride that it's in you you know, most of my friends in high school, my teachers in high school none of them believed I would ever get a college degree, for a good reason, and so that was a big motivator for me to finish, because I knew I could finish. At this point, when I was two years in, I was like, oh, I can finish this, and so that was a big motivator for me to just stay, finish it and I mean, get some good information out of it. And I did.
Speaker 1:Okay, so take me to the moment when you graduate high school I mean graduate college. What's that like for you and what are you thinking that is your next chapter at that point?
Speaker 2:It was awesome and at that point so at that point I'd already we'd already kind of sold our business that we had at the time and I started in the transition from selling that business to going to managing properties. I'd kind of dip my toe in managing my family's properties and helping them kind of, you know, get it more efficient.
Speaker 1:I guess you could say yeah, like streamlined in some of the processes and stuff.
Speaker 2:Yes, and I did pretty well with that. And so it came down to when I was, when we were selling the business, like what was I gonna do next? And Matt, who's my uncle, he gave me the opportunity. That was like, yeah, you can help me manage these things, but you also are gonna have to learn how to.
Speaker 2:You know, put in the work to maintain these things, because it's not just you know, passive real estate, like they like to say, passive income, is the you know, the big hot word. But if you wanna make the most money and you wanna get the biggest bang for your buck, you gotta put the work in. And you'd be very active instead of passive. And so he was able, because I didn't really have any real skills, I didn't have any, couldn't read a tape measure, do anything like that. And he was like you can do all the cool, smart stuff for you know managing, he goes, but you also need to learn this and I can teach you this. And so we kind of were some good give and take on that. I would teach him, help him with the managing and teaching him the managing, and he would help me learning the technical aspect of building a house, remodeling a house, commercial properties, codes, all that stuff.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so the main reason we do this podcast is to help people find work that they love through the stories of others. So this is a question that I have for you, somebody out there that wants to do something similar to you do you feel like that? You got more experience out here in the field, working with Matt or through your degree program? And if they can only choose one the experience or the degree which one would you say that would be better suited for doing real estate slash property management?
Speaker 2:Experience. Experience especially like, especially our generation, our generation has kind of been because we are known like they kind of labeled us when we were young as millennials, as being lazy, and because you know we are the technology age and whatever they kind of fed us this lie that you know comfort and and you know you can have other people do all this stuff for you, that experience teaches you, it kind of puts the power back in your hands and makes you realize that like, oh, I can do this, I don't have to hire somebody to do this, it's not that difficult and it's actually quite fulfilling. Like it really is a fulfilling thing whenever you do start a project and then you finish that project yourself.
Speaker 1:No, absolutely. I think a lot more of the programs should be action, hands-on based, because I think that getting that experience out in the real world is something that all employers are craving. So I'm coming out of a institution for four years where I put so much work and effort into and that I just still don't have what the employers want.
Speaker 1:You know what I mean. I got out of college and had a degree and I had all of this hope and, you know, joy in my eyes, thinking that it was gonna be an easy transition into the workplace. And then I was, you know, surprised that it wasn't like that. And, you know, that kind of brings me back to the reason why I do this is to kind of get some information out there about what is the best way to do these things, cause you're absolutely right about us being millennials.
Speaker 1:We are the generation that is in between two massive errors. We were old enough to have seen life before DVR, like cable TV, guide channel before texting, but now we're in this super information at your fingertips, super computer, super iPhone type error, where a lot of the things that the college was asking like, you know, hey, come here and learn this. You can learn on YouTube from a hundred different professionals, you know. So it's just a to me, the institutions are kind of losing their credibility, because I think that online learning is being so accessible that I was just it's very cool to see your take on. There's no substitute for getting that on hand experience.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and the thing is it's like that I see why people want to just do that route and without the work, like obviously cause it's not as difficult, but like that work, that hard work that you do put into it and the cuts and all that stuff. Man, like I said, it's so fulfilling it's. And I'm just scratching the surface. That's the thing is. I'm still learning so much. I've got so much more to learn. I'm by no means an expert at it, but I'm just I don't know. Every time I complete something, I'm just more motivated to keep going and doing more and learning more.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that means becoming. There's some things that are becoming a lost art, like today. I was telling you earlier on the phone that one of my goals for 2024 was I wanted to learn how to cook more. So I went to the grocery store. I bought some chicken thighs. I went to my mom's house. It's like, hey, mom, I need you to teach me how to cook fried chicken. How did those go? It did. It was awesome. I've got pictures and all kinds of stuff. I surprised the destiny of the girls with fried chicken, macaroni and cheese.
Speaker 2:How did you miss? Did you do? You didn't do mashed potatoes, I didn't do mashed potatoes.
Speaker 1:That's a miss.
Speaker 2:It is a miss, but you know Mashed potatoes goes with fried chicken at all times.
Speaker 1:It does like so much, especially with a roll. What?
Speaker 2:are you gonna dip the roll in? It's just mac and cheese.
Speaker 1:So I had sweet rice too. I don't know if you ever had sweet rice but, Not with fried chicken.
Speaker 1:I'm telling you, bro, it might be a Southern black thing, but we had sweet rice rolls, macaroni and cheese fried chicken and I cooked all this for my family and they were super surprised and it was fulfilling. Like you said, it was super fulfilling to be able to say, man, I took this from something that was unadorable to something that was really great, and it's something that I'm just gonna continue to work on in 2024. So let's just let's get to the career that you're doing now. We've done the origin story, so let's talk about what does a typical day in the life of you look like right now?
Speaker 2:I mean we're in a slower period on the management side right now. Luckily, we've done enough proactive stuff that I'm just taking care of. Like you know, if it rains a lot and we spring a leak or something like that, I'm taking care of that and just kind of prepping for the summer when we start kind of working on remodeling some of the existing places that we have, and I'm just taking this time to like learn and just kind of soak in everything real estate agent wise. And so my day, pretty much, I wake up about 7 am 10 30.
Speaker 1:No, stop that. Tell the people the truth. I'm telling the people the truth. I'm telling the people the truth. I wake up at 7 am with my wife who's getting up.
Speaker 2:I get her set up, get her sent off. I'm usually at my computer and this season that I'm in, right now, I'm at my computer at 8 am I'm checking at the MLS, checking out all the checking my emails, trying to get ahead of any kind of real estate agent stuff that I have. Then I write my to-do list for the day and I start on property management stuff, cause I like to get that knocked out of the way in the morning so I can work on agent stuff in the afternoon.
Speaker 1:What's the most difficult thing about managing properties?
Speaker 2:People. People is the most rewarding and most difficult thing about it. Because it's difficult because you have a lot of different personalities and you know it's understandable because it's there especially cause most of the majority of ours is commercial. This is their livelihoods, so this is how they support their family, everything. And so if you know if there's a lease coming up and there's a rent increase or something like that, like it's a hard conversation. It's a hard conversation to have and though you deal with a lot of difficult personalities, but it's also rewarding because you can help these people and typically you know we're under your market rent in Johnsboro and so we actually have quite a few happy tenants because we're able to give them affordable rent and allow them to like have their business and be a successful business, not just a break-even business.
Speaker 1:What are some of the trends in the market that you're seeing in 2024? If someone was looking to buy or sell a house right now, is it a good time or no?
Speaker 2:It's getting better. I do believe it's getting better and it's gonna continue to get a little bit better. I don't think they're gonna see. You know, we're not gonna see, of course, your 2% or your 3%, probably again for a very, very long time. I got mine, that's all I'm saying, that's it, but you're gonna see.
Speaker 2:I mean, you're gonna see sixes, you're gonna see fives, you might see high fours. Maybe We'll see how that goes, but you know, it's definitely looking better, I think by the summertime, you know, when things start warming up. I think the market's gonna heat up a lot more, and so that'll just be good for everybody. That'll be good for agents, that'll be good for buyers, that'll be good for sellers.
Speaker 1:Okay, coming from the perspective of a potential buyer, if I'm somebody let's say I'm already a homeowner, I've got 10K that I want to do with. Like I want to make a transaction. Is that enough to get started on getting a property of some sort? Like, is it enough to get a plot of land? Is that enough for a down payment? Like, what would somebody that is in the interest of buying a property?
Speaker 2:Income producing or.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so let's say I make 100K, I got 10K cash. What can I get with that? Like, what are some steps that you would get me if I wanted to get a plot of land for, let's say, three acres? Like, what are the steps that you would say Devin? This is my advice to you and this is how you're gonna get there.
Speaker 2:First thing I'm hooking you up with is a slick lender, cause technically I can't give financial advice because I'm just a real estate agent. So I get you hooked up with a lender who can hook you up with, and I get you with a nice lender too.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but you said you wanted to know it all.
Speaker 2:So what would it take for you to become a lender Like you need a lot of banking experience, like understanding loans and like, don't get me wrong, I understand.
Speaker 1:Is that something that you would consider wanting to do Like? Is that under the umbrella of learning at all to you?
Speaker 2:For sure. I probably won't ever work at a bank and become a mortgage officer or anything like that, but I think I'm going to, in this transactional like season that I'm in, learning the billing and real estate agent. You work very closely with lenders, very closely, so learning the ins and outs of the loan, learning the creative ways of riding alone and you know working a deal that's the stuff that I'm gonna be learning.
Speaker 1:Yeah. So, going back to my question, what are some advice? So you'd hook me up with a lender.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And have you done that before? Like if someone come to you with advice and you've hooked them up with a lender, and what does it look like after that as far as getting a property, because you are an agent, right?
Speaker 1:So, like if I came to you and said, hey, patrick, this is what I want. Obviously, okay, the lending part, but what would it look like if I wanted to get three acres? Like, would you just show me different properties around town? Like, what's the process? Like, cause I've only I bought a house, obviously, so I've had a real estate agent before a family friend here in town, but what would that process look like?
Speaker 2:So lender's gonna help you find out what you can afford.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Lender. Once we know what you can afford, what the loan, what loan they can hook you up with, we're gonna start looking at properties, we're gonna start looking at land and we're gonna start looking at, we're gonna start talking to you about, all right, what do you want to do with this property? Cause we're like, you're talking raw land, so what do you want to turn it into? You want to build a home there? Or you wanting to put a mini mall, like? And then, once we kind of get your goal, we're gonna start looking at locations. And then, when we start looking at locations, we're gonna look at the quality of land. Does this land need to be developed? Does this land need to be leveled? Does it already have utilities? Does it already have access to all that stuff?
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean, I think for me my personal goal is I would want to put some kind of small house or something on it, but I would want, I want to. This might sound dumb, but like I want like fruit trees or like I want some kind of like girl that does not sound dumb at all I mean, that's just we are in the generation where all we eat is plastic, Exactly With everything we eat has plastic in it.
Speaker 1:I'm telling you like the more I do research and the more that I research food and things like that, the more I want to be able to grow like organic foods, that I know that nothing's been touched on it and you know it's not been sprayed with all kinds of stuff Like I want nature's candy, so like apple trees and whatever other fruits and vegetables I could muster up is something that I would want to put on there. So that's like my goal. Like that's just my personal goal. Obviously, if I had like a dream thing that I could do with a property, I think longterm I would want to have some kind of event venue, like in the next 10 to 15 years. Like that's a goal of mine.
Speaker 2:That'd be sick for you honestly. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:I don't like being in the industry and seeing the things that do work and the things that don't work. I'm like man, I could do that better. You know what I mean. So maybe I get a lender on the podcast and I just see, like, what the steps are to try to get to being able to get something like that. I got you Okay.
Speaker 2:I got the dude for you right off the bat. Yeah, my boy Pedro.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, yeah, tell Pedro this is my campaign to get Pedro on the podcast. I want to talk, and that's one cool thing about doing this is that you get to talk to a lot of people from a lot of different walks of life, and not only am I being able to provide value to a lot of different people that may want to do these jobs, I'm answering my own questions that I might be curious about. Like I'm legitimately curious how I'm going to make these goals line come true, and just like making that fried chicken dude, I'm just setting the goal, I'm accomplishing it and I'm moving on to the next one.
Speaker 2:That's it, dude, and you're honest, I'm real bummed out.
Speaker 1:I didn't get to try the fried chicken, though, dude, I promise you I've got pictures of me like preparing and everything I still got. The girls were super happy with it, so it was is one of those things?
Speaker 2:Did they eat it?
Speaker 1:Absolutely.
Speaker 2:Hey, that's what's up. Yeah, yeah, it's hard to get kids to eat anything it is.
Speaker 1:But you know I knew something that they would be down for, because it's something they always eat at my parents' house. And you know one thing that people always ask me like hey, devin, why are you still around Jones bro? That sort of thing. And as I've gotten older, it is so much more important for me to be able to really soak in and enjoy those moments with my parents, make sure that my kids are around my parents so they have a good memory and relationship with their grandparents, and it was a way for me to, in my mom, to be able to bond. I'm learning a new skill and I'm making sure that I'm not taking any of these moments in my 30s that I'm having with my parents my healthy parents for granted.
Speaker 2:You know, as weird as I feel like these generations like kind of ours, and especially this next generation, is still like they're starting to walk backwards in time, I feel like everybody's starting to kind of transition like we miss the authenticity, we miss the life away from technology, we miss we miss like being like compounding, being on family compounds is a growing thing.
Speaker 2:It's a growing trend. Now it's even something that I'm interested in and you know, no matter how I ever feel about Jonesboro which I love Jonesboro but if I was to hate Jonesboro I don't think I'd ever leave, because my people, my family, are here and I just always want to be around that village and I want my daughter to always be around that village.
Speaker 1:One thing I'll always tell people when they're getting ready to like oh, I want to do this or I want to do that. I'm like dude, you can travel to anywhere you want in the world, but there's only going to be a few places or one place that you consider home. And I like being home, man, I like being around my people, I like growing my village, I like my friends and things like that, and we can go on a trip together. But ultimately, like I want to be, I want to be home. And the cool thing about podcasting is like I can get my message out to everybody in the world and I can be wherever I need to be doing it. So it's a cool thing, for sure. But, yeah, absolutely Tell Pedro that I need to get him on the I'll send him a text right now.
Speaker 2:Yeah, well, as soon as we get off here, I'll send him a text, yeah yeah, yeah for sure.
Speaker 1:So, Patrick, is there anything else that you want the listeners to know about you, your career, before?
Speaker 2:we let you go here. Yeah, if you're interested in buying or selling a home or anything you know, holler at me. I'm new, but I've got enough education and learning, some more experience in terms of how a home is supposed to be built and looked, so that I could be a really useful asset. And so holler at me and let me help you.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so the last thing we like to do is like the end of all of our episodes with. This is the roadmap. This is if you want to do something like Patrick is doing or something similar, Patrick, will you give us your most efficient way to become a real estate agent and or property manager?
Speaker 2:Ooh, most efficient way to become a real estate agent or a property manager.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we want to get it out there to where? Okay, you know there's a lot of different ways to do this.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:But this is the way that I would do it if I could do it again.
Speaker 2:Honestly, if you want to become a real estate agent, the first thing you do is, like, you find a real estate agent. A lot of these guys will get you in touch with their brokerage. Their brokerages sometimes offer like plans to kind of get you through the schooling, because you have to take like 60 hours or something like that and you can do that even online now through the CE shop and stuff, and that's how I did it at least. And then you take your test and boom, you're a real estate agent. And then you get to be with a brokerage and learn and do all that.
Speaker 2:Becoming a property manager there is I kind of had a loophole because my family, it's their properties and so legally I can manage their properties. But if you're wanting to manage other people's properties, you have to be a part of a brokerage or you know, and. But if you want to learn how to manage those properties, get into, like, get into construction, get into getting in, getting, get into learning even the smallest things, like you could even start off at framing and you go to any contractor around a good job site. They're probably looking for somebody looking for good work and so get some experience learning. You know how that's supposed to be done. Start reading books. Bigger pockets is a big, big place that I go to for reading books on kind of learning how a deal is supposed to be done, types of deals that can be done. You know. Learn people, de-escalation, all that good stuff. Learn negotiation and you know, just being around real estate agents, being around construction, all that stuff will kind of help lead you and prepare you for all that.
Speaker 1:No, I think that's really good advice and that's something that I didn't even think of. As far as the construction, learning the skills that you're going to need to be able to manage those properties is going to set you up for being in that role when the opportunity does present itself.
Speaker 2:Yeah, now remember real quick just to be cause you got your normal property managers. They're not like me. Normal property managers don't usually get hands on. They hire maintenance workers. I do it all, and so that's kind of the. I'm sure there's others out there that can do it all, but so I may not be giving the best advice. That's just the advice that you know. That would make sense for me because in my opinion I value a manager who's going to understand how to do it all.
Speaker 1:And that's the thing, man. Everybody has a unique journey and as a unique perspective that they can give and this is yours to somebody that is inspired by your story, to kind of get into the field that you're doing. Patrick, I appreciate you being on the here, man. Seriously, every time that we get to sit down and chop it up is a blessing, and I really appreciate the conversation that we get to have and I appreciate you.
Speaker 2:I appreciate you letting me come on here and talk about nonsense that I don't know, and you know I appreciate your friendship, brother.
Speaker 1:No problem, brother. Guys, I hope you guys have enjoyed the episode with Patrick Patterson today. He inspired me, as he always does, and I hope he inspired you as well. So, if you guys would be inclined, just follow us on social media, subscribe to wherever you get podcasts, and we will be back next Thursday with a brand new episode. Until next time, peace.
