[00:00:00] Speaker A: Don't think you're ever gonna get rich by getting a job that will make you rich. I think you got to do it on your own. No one's gonna hand it to you, and especially not the people that you work for, because it's there. They are a business, and it's their business to make money. And paying you goes against, you know, the amount of value that you give them is nowhere close to the value that they pay you.
So the only way you're going to get that value is to go into business for yourself.
[00:00:40] Speaker B: Hey, all, welcome back to another episode of the Short Term Show. Got a super cool guest for you today. His name is Jamie Folk. He owns in three different markets. Two of them are in the Northeast. I, as always, am your host, Avery Carle. And Jamie, how's it going?
[00:00:55] Speaker A: Great, Avery. Thank you for having me. I am a big fan. I read your book and it was awesome. Short Term rental, Long Term health, Long Term Wealth. Yep.
[00:01:04] Speaker B: Long Term Health.
[00:01:05] Speaker A: Yeah, both. Hopefully both. Right.
[00:01:10] Speaker B: Well, thank you very much for reading and I am very interested to hear about your portfolio, as I'm sure our listeners are. And so first, tell us a little bit about yourself and how you ended up becoming a short term rental investor.
[00:01:24] Speaker A: Well, I was looking for ways to diversify. I work in biotech and I have worked in biotech in the Boston area for the past 20 years. And I was looking to diversify my portfolio.
But prior to that, I always wanted to just own a home either on a lake or on the water. And my family had always, they're from Pennsylvania, from York, Pennsylvania. And they had always and I have always vacationed on the Jersey Shore in Wildwood, New Jersey.
And I want to and so I just kind of ended up in 2020, right before the pandemic, buying a house on the Jersey shore a block away from the beach. And it's a single family home.
And if people in the audience know anything about the Wildwood, New Jersey, everything there is like a duplex or a condo. And this was a single family. So it really stood out even though it was never used as a short term rental. I, my mom had actually house hacked and done bed and breakfast stuff. And so I knew like growing up that she had done that and had success with it. And I'm like, okay, well, if I buy this place, I want to rent it out to try to make my, you know, mortgage payment or help make my mortgage payment a little easier. And so of course, you know, I had this big plan and then the pandemic Hits right, Right.
Which, you know, was a blessing and a curse because we got the house super cheap prior to the pandemic. And then right when it hits, the value went, you know, as everything did at that time for places by the water, went up and up and up. And believe it or not, I did rent out a good portion that summer. People wanted to get out of their homes and have. And having a single family home was hugely beneficial with a fenced in backyard. And we made it pet friendly to kind of highly compete in that market. And first year we did all right. Second year we did much better.
And you know, the last few years we've actually been cash flowing. It's even though that wasn't our intent up front. So that was my history with that home.
And then I started kind of, I read, I read.
What's the name of that?
Oh yeah, Rich Dad, Poor Dad. And that really kind of set my brain, lit my brain on fire with this kind of investing because of what it said about real estate and wealth and how you acquire wealth.
And so it was from there a few years convincing my wife really into purchasing another vacation home. And then I read your book and you had said in there and I listened to your podcast as well and you had said, I think a couple times that you should invest in places that you know, so you really know the market going in and places that you like to vacation.
And I did that in Bar Harbor, Maine, up in Acadia. I don't know if you. Have you ever been there?
[00:04:22] Speaker B: I've never been. I've been to Portland, but I haven't been up to Bar Harbor.
[00:04:25] Speaker A: Yeah, it's a hike, it's, it's way up there, but it's, it's beautiful and people absolutely love it. And I knew it from like trying to get a place up there. It's always booked out.
So I rented a place right on the water again there in 2025. That's where I really kind of took the plot. For years I was thinking about it, thinking about it and then my, my job a turn. I knew they were probably going to lay me off at my job. And I'm like, you know what I want to, I'm getting, you know, to the age where I want to think about retirement. What's my retirement strategy? And I want my retirement strategy to be doing Airbnb short term rentals for the foreseeable future.
And so that's where I invested in Bar Harbor. I have a place up there that again, so the person I bought it from Was like incredibly nice and has become kind of a mentor. I jokingly call her mom because she was super nice. When she sold the place to me, I like she had a business all set up. See, that's what buying short term rentals is, essentially buying a business if, if you're like, if you find a successful one. I, you know, kissed a lot of frogs. I looked at a ton of places up there, but I wanted one that was already a short term rental that was cash flowing like that. That was my criteria and I didn't really have anything beyond that.
And so there was very few that were like that. There was a lot of single family homes that people were using as vacation homes. And I didn't want to have to deal with, you know, finding a cleaner. I didn't know the market that well. And so I ended up with this place in Lemoyne which is right on the water. And was like, when I went there, I was, look, I always buy houses in the off season too for vacation places. I was up there in like February in Maine.
And in February the place was rented out. They couldn't even find a window for me to go in there and look at it.
So I found like a small window to walk through it. It was gorgeous. You know, a single family chalet. Chalet with a cabin and just really beautiful home that was well maintained and already had a cleaner, already had a maintenance guy who were passionate about staying on.
So I took that and took all the rentals like we had talked about for the Florida place. I took all the rentals that they had on the books. It was booked out for the entire summer until October and, and everyone stayed on and wanted to vacation there. So that was my first experience, like doing a legit Airbnb. And then it was, you know, ever since then I've had a very, very high occupancy rate there. Even in the off season. I, you know, I, you have to manage it. It's not like a lot of people, they want to kind of do the set it and forget it, you know, like just kind of buy these short term rentals and just have them go. But you have to pay attention to the price. Your empty days, I mean, obviously don' and adjust down because there are those last minute bookings and you have to have confidence in your place that it will book last minute. But at the same time you want to make sure that price point is competitive with your competitors in the area to ensure that people will see it and book it. And it will book if you have the right place.
And all winter I was booked out. Yeah, all winter I was booked out, which is crazy.
[00:07:44] Speaker B: In the wintertime in Maine. Yeah, that is crazy because it's ice cold up there.
[00:07:49] Speaker A: Yeah, well, people from Mississippi are coming. People like we're coming up from Mississippi, Louisiana. They want the New England winter. Right. And it's, it's so cheap and it's right on the water and it's, you know, 15 minutes from Acadia, 30 minutes from Bar harbor. So you can still like drive around and see stuff. But like, I couldn't believe it. I couldn't believe the only times I really struggled were like April and early May. That was it.
[00:08:16] Speaker B: Yeah, April, late April, early May is kind of a shoulder season everywhere. I feel like
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[00:09:03] Speaker B: okay, so you said something interesting.
You were only looking for properties that were already cash flowing at, at their asking price, is that right?
[00:09:13] Speaker A: Yes. Yes.
[00:09:15] Speaker B: Okay. Because that is extremely hard to find. I don't know if maybe it was a different time in the market, but nowadays like basically nothing, not nothing, but most things are not going to look great on paper at asking price because you've got so many variables. Like you've got the asking price, which is one thing. Are they asking too much money? A lot of sellers are still anchored to that 2021, 22 pricing. That is not real life anymore. Prices have gone down.
They're not, the listings aren't listing for less, but people are able to get discounts on properties and buy them for less, you know, after they sit on the market for a little while.
So what I'm looking for most, well, that's one variable. And then the second variable is have they been managing it well and is it performing the way that it should? So, you know, you're, you're kind of trying to balance these two different things of the pricing being correct, which it almost never is, and B, are they managing it right? Is it doing the numbers that it should be doing? And that's very hard to find those two things lined up where the price is right. And it's, you know, it's performing the way that it should to where you can Find a deal that way. I typically tell people we have to look for the opportunity rather than what it's already doing.
[00:10:28] Speaker A: Right. And that's a great point. And mine. I talked the. The seller down. It was on the market forever. It was on the market. I can't remember how many days, but at least, like, a year.
And it was because the asking price was high, relatively speaking. And I. I did eventually talk her down. I think 50. Close, like 50,000 maybe, because she just wanted to close. But, like, she kept saying, I don't mind holding onto it because of cash flows. So it's. It's that dichotomy between the. It being on so long because the price is high and them not caring until they get their price because it makes money. And if you want to do that investment and believe in it, sometimes it's like a leap of faith to take that, to take a risk and maybe get it a little over what you're comfortable spending. I mean, I don't recommend, like, going crazy and, like, going for asking and being desperate. Like, it's all about, you know, like, what do you want and what. And what your strategy is for that area. I wanted to buy in that area. I knew it well, and I knew from looking at other houses that the price point was not too far off. It was a little high, but it was not too far off. And it. Cash flowed so well, and it made so much money that I didn't mind paying a little extra over what I wanted to pay to get the home.
[00:11:53] Speaker B: And what did you pay for that one?
[00:11:55] Speaker A: I think it was 1.15 million.
[00:12:00] Speaker B: And it's a single family with an additional cabin, you said. And it's water, correct?
[00:12:05] Speaker A: Yes, dude. It's a deal and a half. That's why. But, like. But it was on. It was on the market forever because no one, like, people. It takes a specific buyer to buy an Airbnb rental place. Right? You know, like, not everyone wants to do this work, and that's where it kind of, like, it drops us in this bucket, where it's like they. They don't want to sell for, you know, under a certain price point because they know it makes money, and it doesn't make sense for them to sell a thriving business.
But at the same time, they. They're listing it for a reason because they probably bought it. You know, I mean, in this. In the person. In the case that for the main house, they had bought it, like, five or six years prior to that and had already increased almost double in value.
So it's like they wanted to cash out and I think her husband didn't want to deal with it anymore. That's what always happens. Like, either there's a divorce. Those are the ones you look for. People that are like, not desperate but really wanting to sell aggressive in that market. That's what happened with my place in Orlando that I actually, you know, bought through, through you guys. I, you know, I looked up what you guys had in the Orlando market. I wanted to go there for the reasons that we said at the beginning of the show, because things were kind of coming down and I thought it was a good time to explore that area. But up in Maine, it was, you know, a lift and shift for the prop, for all the guests, for all the maintenance, for the cleaner. I had a, I have a fantastic cleaner up there. So it was to me, I did my research and it was a no brainer compared to everything that was on the market in that area.
[00:13:37] Speaker B: And what does that one gross?
[00:13:39] Speaker A: That one grosses. First year I only had it for six months and the gross was over 100K. It was like, yeah, it was six months. 100K is pretty darn good.
[00:13:53] Speaker B: Not bad.
[00:13:53] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, for that area. And I didn't have. And it was so funny. The, the person before me, like the, the rental right before, I was talking to the owner. The rental right before was like the tenant from hell. And I, I'm like, oh my God, what am I buying? They like, they wanted their money back because they were afraid bears and moose were going to break into the chalet.
[00:14:14] Speaker B: I've had people complain about that actually myself in the Smokies. Like, they, they gave me a one star review because what if a bear broke in, bro?
[00:14:24] Speaker A: Like, how is that my, like, what if, what is it gonna, like come in armed? Like, that's not my. I mean, you're going to the Smokies, you're going to Maine. And, and that's the thing. I have been up there and it is quiet. Like, it's like. And you can kind of, you do feel isolated. It's right on the water.
There's not much around there. So I understand people's paranoia, but that's the thing. Like, you have to go in clear eyed into this business where you're like, you're dealing with people. And a lot of people want, or not a lot, but I'd say maybe 1 out of 10, 1 out of 20 want, want that free vacay. And they, you know, they're willing to say and do a lot of Weird things. I mean, some of it might not be nefarious, but a lot of it can be. So you have to go in with that expectation and be able to deal with it professionally.
[00:15:11] Speaker B: Yeah, totally agree with that. And what is, is the high season in Bar Harbor? The summertime, I would guess.
[00:15:18] Speaker A: Yeah, it's from. It's like late May to actually the season extends out through the end of October. I am fully booked minus like three days, I think through the end of October.
[00:15:32] Speaker B: Nice.
[00:15:33] Speaker A: Which is nice. Yeah, you can't complain about that. That's, you know, six months of really high end rentals and there I've already grossed like close to 120 for the year.
[00:15:46] Speaker B: Oh, wow.
[00:15:47] Speaker A: All right.
[00:15:48] Speaker B: And when did you buy that? Just for the sake of knowing at what point in the market we were at?
[00:15:54] Speaker A: I closed in June of 2025. I put in an offer. I had an accepted offer in like March. It took like three months to close that because I did it as a business, not as an individual loan. And business loans, I've found my last two. They just take freaking forever.
[00:16:13] Speaker B: Oh, so you got an SBA loan?
[00:16:14] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:16:15] Speaker B: Oh, let's talk about that. Because a lot of people are like, oh, I could just get an SBA loan and buy this thing. But they don't realize it's not like a regular mortgage where it takes 30 days to close. It's a big drawn out process. So I would love to hear about your process with using an SBA loan to buy a short term rental.
[00:16:32] Speaker A: You gotta show all the rental history for like, I had to show like two or three years of rental history, slash cash flow. I had to, you know, get all of my personal assets in there, which you have to do with a regular loan anyways. But. And then you have to, like, you have to not like a business plan, but you, you're partnering with a bank to invest in this business and you have to kind of tell them what your plan is and they buy into it. So you're, you're. It's way more in depth than just a personal loan for a house.
It takes forever. And you're, you're giving them your tax returns, you know, all kind. It's just the information that you give them is way, way more than what a personal loan is like for when I bought my primary residence or when I bought the house in Wildwood, that was like. I went into that. I think I had. We had an accepted offer in January and I closed the beginning of February. So that was a month like you said.
[00:17:27] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. So the SBA loan, where do you go to get an SBA loan? Because I've. You're actually the first person that I have talked to that's been able to successfully do that for a short term rental. So I have a lot of.
[00:17:39] Speaker A: I. Machia Savings bank up in Maine is where I. Is where I did it. And then I went with a local.
[00:17:46] Speaker B: Local to the property bank, which is probably what you're going to have to do in any market. Something local to the property.
[00:17:51] Speaker A: 100. I try. I, I went to Rocket Mortgage too, because I had. That's who I had. Yeah. Such a mistake. I love it. Well, they took me like 90 of the way and then the last minute they're like, oh yeah, we, we can't do the business.
[00:18:05] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:18:06] Speaker A: I'm like, bro, like, you could have told me that.
[00:18:09] Speaker C: Yes.
[00:18:10] Speaker A: Yeah, they pull the plug out. Well, they, because they. What they do, it's a nice little scam. They, they do that and then they go to your house and they appraise it for 20 to 30 grand below what your agreement was because they want you to add additional cash to the loan. And I'm like, dude, why are you playing around? You knew what the agreement was. I mean, some of those appraisals. My biggest frustration actually has been the appraising of these houses because there's a lot of subjectivity to it.
And it's like I do my due diligence in the market and see what the market is yielding and my price point is generally not too far outside of what that market is with comparables.
[00:18:53] Speaker B: And how do they appraise a property on an SBA loan? Does it. Is it based on sold comps? Is it based on what the income will be? How do they do that?
[00:19:03] Speaker A: It's. It, it's a number of factors. I asked and they were kind of sketchy about the details, but it's definitely comps and what it, what they're projecting it will yield because I had to send them what was already booked through the Airbnb. And by the way, my biggest complaint actually is the Airbnb process of transferring a house and like, with, like, with the amount of confusion and fear and panic that you give people who have booked a vacation rental for like a year, like, there's no, they do not have a clean process of like a lift and shift from one owner to another. No, it's, it's ugly. You have to send out letters, you have to tell people like, this is coming.
And people like panic and they're like, oh, and they just book with someone else. And like, I, the day that I get the house, I'm sent, I'm texting people, I'm sending emails. It's a lot of work to keep those rentals. And both times I've done it, I've lost it. In Maine, it wasn't that bad. It was maybe one or two losses of, of rentals. But in Florida it was, it was rough. It was rough a lot. Because I think more competition. Right. That could have been it.
[00:20:16] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it is such a pain to do that. I typically recommend people just don't bother with it and start fresh.
[00:20:23] Speaker A: Yeah. And I, I can see that. Totally. Because it's, it's such a. Like, you're basically like not begging, but you're like, we had this, like, I'll give you the exact deal. And then you have to go into Airbnb and get the like, which is no joke. You have to like figure out the closest approximation to what they paid before, which is not easy as well.
So there's a lot that goes into it with their fees and all and all that other stuff that you have to factor in.
[00:20:51] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. So let's, let's switch down to the Orlando property. So you got the New Jersey property kind of as like a vacation home, kind of turned it into a short term rental and that was successful. And you bought Bar harbor last year and then you bought Orlando this year. What made you decide to come down to Florida?
[00:21:12] Speaker A: Well, I.
Exactly what we said the beginning of the show. The market is depressed and I don't think it's because people are not renting there. I think it's like Epic Universe Disney's plans for what they're expanding in Magic Kingdom, etc. Like, I'm, I'm. I have my finger on the pulse of a lot of, you know, these things and paying attention. And I was, I actually emailed Wade, one of your realtors, years ago when he was down there and we. And he explained the market to me really well and, you know, did a great job. And of course, you know, I go down there to buy from him and he's gone. He went to the smoke.
[00:21:52] Speaker B: Yeah, his fiance got into school up there.
[00:21:55] Speaker A: So yeah, he was awesome.
[00:21:58] Speaker B: But.
[00:21:58] Speaker A: But Mike was awesome too. So I went to Mike and then I just started in. The properties had come down so much that I'm like, now is the time. Like, now is the time with, with those new places opening at the theme parks plus the, the market coming down and there being a Major correction. I figured now was the time. And I, you know, I looked for places that had been on the market for a while, so I, I knew I could negotiate down further. And I found the place, the place that I eventually ended up with. They called it Wildest Dreams.
Again. It was, I think it was an email that you sent out that I just responded to and, you know, and went with Mike on that, on that listing because it was gorgeous. I mean, all the rooms were themed everything. It was. And again, it had, you know, maintenance guy George, who's fantastic, cleaner is great.
And, you know, I already knew that it had established booking for folks because they sent me the VRBO and Airbnb listings for both. It was all booked out and I'm like, let's do it. It was on the market forever. So I'm like, I immediately made an offer which was well below asking.
Well below asking. I didn't see. I don't want to insult. That's the thing. I think you hit. You did a whole show on this a while ago, Avery, about like, you can't bring emotion into this. It's business. It's like the Godfather. It's just business.
[00:23:29] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:23:30] Speaker A: And you can't bring emotion into this. You're making a business transaction.
And I don't mind, you know, taking low ball offers if I'm, if I'm, you know, putting a house out there, I either take it or I don't. It's not a personal insult to me. But some people, if you do that, they get so pissed off that they won't even, like, negotiate with you. But thankfully, that wasn't the case down there. She came right back with an offer of her own. And we negotiated for like two or three days and finally got something that we both agreed on.
[00:23:57] Speaker B: Nice. So I want to go back to your depressed market comment because this is a soapbox that I get on all the time and I will die on this hill that Orlando has so much opportunity right now because it was one of the markets back at the height of things that everybody was shouting from the rooftops, it's oversaturated. Blah, blah. Okay, fine, whatever. Let's just assume everything. Every market is oversaturated at this point. I'm so tired of that word. It doesn't even mean anything. Nobody even knows beans. Y' all don't know. You're just saying it because you're too scared to buy something. So Orlando, let's talk about this, is one of the, the main ones that everybody was completely on. Excuse my Language. No, but now a lot of the people who bought super high at, you know, based on Covid rental numbers, those people have sold off oftentimes for lower than what they paid. The tide has gone out on that. Like, y' all move on to something, find some other reason to be too scared to buy something. So what has not changed is the 54 million people a year that go to damn Disney World. I am.
And that's not even like. And it was. They actually had a record year this year. More tourism to.
To Orlando than there ever has been. And you're right there. They just built Epic. So that's a new one. There's rumors of another Disney park being buil. They're just adding things all the time. And I apologize. As I've said this recently on a podcast, I'm going to go right into it again. I stay on Disney property every single time. So everybody wants to argue.
Well, you're competing with the Disney properties. Listen, I'm a family of four.
Once you have a family of five and you need an extra bed, more than two beds, and maybe one of those fold down like we call them, elf on the shelf beds.
You don't. There are four resorts at Disney that have accommodations for that where they have the villas, and they are extremely expensive.
So not everybody. You know, your inventory shrinks from a huge amount down to four resorts. And then also a lot of people are priced out of those resorts. So those people, as soon as they have that third kid, fourth kid, or they're going with friends or family, they need a vacation rental, and that's not going away either. So there is a lot of opportunity out there because prices have come down, because it's a buyer's market, because properties are sitting on the for a really long time that you can get good deals and be really successful in that market. I'm gonna jump off my soapbox real quick and let you talk.
[00:26:29] Speaker A: No, I love that because that's 100% it. And yes, you're so the people that will stay on Disney property will probably always stay there. So that's not really like. I mean, there's some people that are obsessed with staying. Like, that's all they do. They just stay in the parks because it's convenient, blah, blah, blah. But people that want to go to Universal and Disney, people that stay like, my.
The folks that I do like, my place is huge. And it's. It's multiple families that will want to stay there. And if you have multiple families and you want to stay on Disney or universal property. Good luck. Like that is. You know, you might like that. That's tens of thousands over ten grand. Right. My place is nowhere near that. You get a full arcade, you get themed bedrooms for everyone.
And your own private pool and Jacuzzi. Right on a lake with that also has a lazy river and multiple amenities within the property itself.
So those are the things that really set you apart. And I think savvy, smart vacationers will look at Airbnb and find all these places with all these amenities and it's not even a comparison to Disney property or those other ones. You have to stay in a hotel with everyone else and it's loud and blah, blah, blah. Whereas you get your own private house that has themed bedrooms in an arcade, all for you and your family and multiple families. So you can stay with, you know, my place sleeps, I think, 22.
So you can, you can have your family, your friend's family, your, you know, whoever come with you and split the cost. And it's a fraction of what you would pay at Disney. And it's 15 minutes from the park.
So that, you know, those are the things that we're talking about. And you don't have to go as big as I went. You can go with places that you're saying four or five bedrooms. And those are dirt cheap now. Those are dirt cheap.
[00:28:17] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah. You can get a three bedroom with a three bedroom townhouse with a private pool in Windsor hills for like 400, maybe a little higher now, but that's crazy. Really affordable, especially compared to the rest of Florida. So let's talk about what you bought. How big is your property? What'd you pay for it? What is it Gross?
[00:28:33] Speaker A: It. Nine beds.
Yeah, I know. Nine beds. Five. Five full baths.
It's.
Yeah. And it grosses.
I mean, I haven't had it for a full year yet. So far it's like 70 or 80 that I've made. And I've had it since May, which is. Which is great.
[00:28:56] Speaker B: So in May. So that's June, July and August. That's three months. $80,000 in three months.
[00:29:02] Speaker A: Yeah, give or take.
[00:29:04] Speaker B: Oh, that's.
[00:29:06] Speaker A: I mean, you can't complain. You can't complain.
[00:29:10] Speaker B: And it's.
[00:29:10] Speaker A: And it was all. But I didn't have to. It was. I had to do a lot of work. Honestly, my biggest complaint about Orlando, they say, you know, like the taxes and stuff like that, like, that's only for private income people. They charge a lot. That's my experience in taxes and this various, like government things that I don't have to deal with in Maine or New Jersey at all. There's a lot more government stuff that I have to pay off in Orlando. That, that's the one detriment that I found. But everything else is like, people are booking this place like, it, like it's nobody's business and it's doing. It's doing great. And I'm already booked out, like, the winner. I'm like, you know, I only have a week in December that's available. I only have a week in like a week or maybe 10 days in January, February and March. April's the first month that I have, like, you know, two to three weeks open.
[00:30:03] Speaker B: Wow. And what did you pay for it?
[00:30:06] Speaker A: 980.
[00:30:06] Speaker B: 980 for a nine bedroom. And you did 80,000 your first three months?
[00:30:12] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:30:13] Speaker B: So. And you've got some big business coming up, too, because the holidays are huge at the, the park, so.
[00:30:20] Speaker A: I know.
So I'm looking at that. I know. And, and you know, it was, it, it was not a huge effort for me to find it because now is the time, like you're saying. And, and literally I did it from an email from you, one of your
[00:30:33] Speaker B: just love get on our email list on our website.
[00:30:37] Speaker A: Yep.
[00:30:38] Speaker B: Sign up.
[00:30:39] Speaker A: She sends out, like, legit properties all throughout Florida. You know, the Smokies, you guys, I mean, not to do a big ad for you, but, like, legit, like, you don't have to do a lot of work for this business. You guys are doing the work, and it's like a partnership where we, you know, I'm looking to invest, you're looking, you know, to move inventory and, and do those things. And it's.
It's a win. Win.
[00:31:02] Speaker B: All right, well, thank you very much. So what would you say to the people who are like, I'm not buying in Orlando. It's too saturated.
[00:31:11] Speaker A: I would say that that is. That's not the case. That I have found that it is not the case. It. It is dependent on sticking out. You want to stick out, you want to have your place pop.
And if it's just a generic, like, you know, condo without any theming or whatever, it's the pictures that draw people in on Airbnb and what it looks like, and you're selling them a wonderful vacation and experience. So I would tell those people you want to stick out. And there are places that you can purchase that stick out, that have those themed bedrooms, that have those arcades, that have the amenities that people are looking for. The pools, etcetera.
So find that place. Be patient. Find that place that sticks out and that has a rental history because the numbers don't lie and they can't, like, give you BS numbers, you know, like you can go back and whatever. I'm sure people have done that and you know, there is risk involved. It's not there. There's nothing happens without risk.
However, you know, this is a business and, and we're in this together and people want to sell and they want their reputation. So, like, more times than not, you're going to find people that have those rental, documented rental histories that you can look up and, and go with someone who has a success and whose place stands out and you will beat that saturated market. I don't have that much experience and I'm, I'm doing fine.
[00:32:39] Speaker B: Awesome. And did you get traditional financing on that or did you do that SBA thing again?
[00:32:45] Speaker A: It was through a business, through Eric. Your. Your. It was a business.
[00:32:49] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. Mortgage.
[00:32:50] Speaker A: Yep.
[00:32:51] Speaker B: Awesome. And did you do DSCR or conventional dscr? Nice.
Awesome. Well, I mean, you're crushing it in all these different markets. The Northeast Florida. Where are we going next?
[00:33:05] Speaker A: Well, I'll probably go with you guys again and I'll probably go to the Smokies or.
Because that's, you know, I mean, it's, that's the standard bearer, right, for this kind of stuff. But also, I'm looking at.
My wife went to college in D.C. and if I were to do it again, Lake Anna. I don't know if you've looked at Lake Anna or know of Lake Anna, but that's a cool place because it's like an hour outside of D.C. it's a nice lake.
So either one of those places, I think, amazing.
[00:33:36] Speaker B: All right, so, Jamie, we are to the last three questions of the show that we ask every single guest. Are you ready?
[00:33:42] Speaker A: Of course.
[00:33:43] Speaker B: Okay, first question. What advice would you give 20 year old Jamie if you knew then what you know now?
[00:33:51] Speaker A: Well, I would say read, read, read, read, read, Read is my. I know it's. That's maybe a little odd, but reading has, has really set me down this path and kind of opened my mind to new possibilities.
But also, don't think you're ever going to get rich by getting a job that will make you rich.
I think you got to do it on your own. You're like, no one's going to hand it to you, and especially not the people that you work for, because they are a business and it's their business to make money. And paying you goes against the amount of value that you give them is nowhere close to the value that they pay you. So the only way you're going to get that value is to go into business for yourself.
[00:34:39] Speaker B: Totally agree with that. And question number two, what advice do you have for a new short term rental investor who's getting started today, which is 2026, similar to what you said,
[00:34:51] Speaker A: I'd say read Avery's book. I'd say read Rich Dad, Poor Dad.
Those two books are fantastic for this kind of investing.
I would say when you're looking, invest in an area that you know, I'd start there that you want a vacation that you're passionate about and then look to purchase a business that is already up and running rather than unless the deal is like super sweet. You don't want to start from scratch when you're first going. That's what I did and it took a while for me to cash flow and figure it out. You want to get that experience up front where you have an experienced staff cleaner already there and a place that's already making money that people like.
[00:35:37] Speaker B: Great advice. And last, you've already done two, so you might have to dig a little bit deeper. What's your favorite book that's impacted your mindset?
[00:35:44] Speaker A: Oh, this is going to sound weird as well, but the Slavery of Our Times by Leo Tolstoy is a great book that had me. It's kind of spiritual. It deals more with serfs from 1900, the early 20th century.
But it really, it's like, what is kind of life? What is work and you know, like, what are the possibilities as a human like that we should be kind of looking into. It really kind of changed my mindset and that's where I like, went down the rich dad, poor dad path.
[00:36:22] Speaker B: Nobody has ever said that. So, guys, that is something to listen to. I mean, something to listen to or read. We do a lot of listening in my houses. We're constantly on the road with kids sports.
[00:36:33] Speaker A: So that's all I do. And yes, I do. Like, my daughter plays basketball and I'm all over the state, like constantly going to these tournaments and things. So I have audiobooks on in my car all the time and podcasts. So yeah, that's the way to go.
[00:36:47] Speaker B: All right, Jamie, thank you so much for coming on. If our listeners want to find your properties or book them, how can they do that?
[00:36:55] Speaker A: Well, I guess the easiest way is to go to Airbnb.
[00:37:01] Speaker B: My.
[00:37:03] Speaker A: I'm still, you know, going through owner res. I haven't set that up, but My main house is called entire oceanfront home, acadia and mountain views. My Florida house is lakefront villa arcade themed rooms, lazy river.
And my wildwood house is pet friendly five bedroom home one block from beach and boardwalk.
[00:37:24] Speaker B: All right.
[00:37:24] Speaker A: That's the best way to do it.
[00:37:26] Speaker B: Sounds good. Thank you again so much for coming on. And listeners, we will see you next week.
