Business
In today’s episode of Leafy Podcast, our hosts sit down with Logan Freeman, Founder of LiveFree Investments. Logan Freeman began LiveFree Investments in early 2018 after the corporate world had let him down one too many times. Real estate has always been his passion and got kicked into full gear after completing his first live-in flip in 2013. Today, with over 80 successful real estate transactions and $13 million completed for investors annually, he has created a proven track record to provide his investment clients the confidence and security they desire. Logan feels there are two things that set him apart from other investor agents; his never ending hustle and is proactive communication. He is continually investing in himself so he can provide great value to his investors; making sure to pivot and listening to what the market is providing. A driving philosophy is, “What got you here, won’t get you there.” Logan tells us that Kansas City, Phoenix and Indianapolis are great markets that are seeing rent growth during the pandemic. He advises to do your due diligence in the market you are looking for and find a broker that has the network necessary to understand and help you succeed. To learn more about Logan Freeman, visit: https://www.livefreeinvestments.com/ Episode Transcript:Female Announcer 0:00 Welcome to the Leafy Podcast, helping real estate investors and entrepreneurs grow. Say hello to your hosts, Jennifer Gilgoric and Brian Price, founders of Leafy Legal Services. Teaching you how to protect your assets, grow your business, and manage your wealth. Let's start the show. Tammy Geerling 4:54 Hi, everyone. Welcome to Leafy Podcast. Thank you for joining us today I'm Tammy, the podcast manager. And on the line, we have Jennifer and Brian. That's Jennifer Gilgoric and Brian Price from Leafy. Legal Services. Jennifer is the COO and Brian is a CEO of that service. They have a very awesome guest with us today. So I'll go ahead and pass it on over to them so we can get the show started. So hey, Jennifer. Hey, Brian, how you guys doing? Jennifer Gilgoric 5:21 Great.Well, I'm excited to talk to someone Our guest today has a philosophy of what got you here won't get you there, which I absolutely love. He is the founder of live free investments. they've raised over $15 million dollars worth capital. They've done over 120 some odd transactions completed $75 million worth of transaction volume back in 2008. Or, well, he got his kit he kind of got kicked in the real estate industry and kicked off for his first live in flip back in 2013. And he's been blowing and going ever since. So I really want to give A great big round of applause. And welcome to Logan Freeman with live free investments and lift free investments calm welcome Logan to the show. How are you? Logan Freeman 6:09 I'm energized thriving in focus. I'm just just just drawing off of your energy. So good work, guys. Yeah. Brain Price 6:16 Keeps us all going. That's fair. Yeah, that's Yeah. So why don't you tell us about live free investments, which you guys do and what makes you kind of special than a lot of other folks out there? Logan Freeman 6:26 Yeah. So, you know, kind of twofold here in Kansas City. That's our market is Kansas City, Missouri. You know, we're a real estate brokerage firm. So we typically help a lot of out of state clients with their 1031 exchanges. And I was the head of acquisitions for a $50 million fund here in Kansas City, and what I learned during that period of time, and those were all mostly on single family homes, mind you, and so what I learned during that time was that, you know, there's a big need for buyer representation in the transaction process. And so when I moved my license over and started buying brokering commercial and multifamily properties, I brought this idea to my my broker I said, Hey, you know, I'm curious, do folks really work with buyers? She said, No, we just go after listings. Nobody works with buyers. They're tire kickers, and don't waste your time and, and I said, okay, but what if I created a system that I could identify folks who are doing 1031 exchanges that needed deal flow, they needed a team, they needed, you know, attorneys, right? They need attorneys, they need all these different things. And let me help them across the to get across the finish line. And she's like, Look, you can try it. But I don't know if it's going to work. Well. 12 months later, I had outsold the rest of the whole company. And so she said, Well, I guess it does work. And we've been doing that ever since. So that's the first thing is helping out of state buyers, you know, purchase properties and be successful in this market. And then the second thing is really focusing on our own acquisitions. And so we'll be close to over 1000 units by the end of this year. And those are all on multifamily deals. We've done some hotels and some office buildings as well, but primarily market rate multifamily properties here in Kansas City. So basically helping upstate clients either actively or passively get involved with real estate. Yeah. Brain Price 8:16 Okay, that's awesome. Because I think that makes a lot of sense because I know a lot of people that are trying to get, especially with the pandemic, get out of the big cities and go somewhere and invest in something that actually has some future to it, where the big cities aren't really that way right now. Logan Freeman 8:32 Yeah, there's been some interesting studies or just market data about Kansas City in general recently, so we landed some really large industrial hubs here in Kansas City on the intermodal side, which is creating a lot of jobs and warehousing, which right now is obviously really good. And then we have the largest concentration of animal hospitals and animal you know, veterinarian clinics and teaching those folks to do that here in the in Kansas City metro area as well. So So healthcare it is big too and and so unemployment has been beating the national average. And believe it or not everybody else in the markets like Texas and other markets are seeing rent decreases. Phoenix, Kansas City and Indianapolis are three markets that have been above 3% on their rent increases over the past six months. And we're still seeing that happen on our-- Tammy Geerling 9:23 Can you say that again, for our listeners, because you are not the first guest we've had who has honed in on the Kansas City Market. So I want everyone to listen to this, who is looking for investments right now. So our clients anyone who's looking to invest Kansas City and what are the other two? Logan Freeman 9:42 It was Phoenix, Arizona, great market in Indianapolis. And I have connections in both of those markets that can can connect to it too. But those are all three really great markets that are seeing rent growth, not not stagnant rent growth, just I mean positive rent growth, beating inflation during the pandemic. Tammy Geerling 10:00 And that's absolutely unbelievable in this market, but it's really great. It really depends on where you at. So one of the good things about real estate investing and for us investors is that you can you were mobile, you can be mobile of where you do it once you have the right structure. And of course, you know, that's what we do is get the right structure, you can kind of do whatever you want. I do want to put put a little buzz, if any of you guys are living in California, or Commonwealth state, and you're utilizing an asset holding company, like a like a Delaware statutory trust us specifically, as an asset holding company. I want you to listen to him on this 1031 Exchange. I know that there's a lot of people who want to put on the brakes, they hear that and they're just like he because there's a lot of moving parts to that you need a Qualified Intermediary to be able to help you and you have a timeline and that stresses people out. You don't have to be stressed out with that if you have the right network. So can you talk to me a little bit about your 1031 Exchange and how you've been able to help buyers through that process, which can be quite stressful. Logan Freeman 11:05 Absolutely. And I think that it, it comes down to two things, it comes down to me having the best relationships and network in Kansas City. That's my job to know, the best attorneys, the best legal, you know, people, but also the best financing companies, title companies, property managers, contractors, when you think about that somebody coming in from out of state, you know, maybe California I mean, that's where 95% of our transactions come from, is California into into Missouri, or it's pretty similar. But anyways, you know, when you think about that, that's, that can get really, really stressful if you have to try to build all of those relationships. So finding a broker like myself, who has those connections that you can leverage is extremely, extremely important. So the relationships and with the vendors is one. The second is deal flow. It's my job to know what properties are trading, what properties are not trading, what areas you should be in And you know what you should pay. And so you need to find somebody that's very active in the transactions in that market that will allow you to, to leverage that network as well. And so, you know, I always tell folks, if you're thinking about selling a property, identify your markets before you put your property on the market, figure out which market you're interested in, and then find somebody like myself in that market that can guide you through that process, right. So get ahead of it be proactive instead of reactive, that would be my, that'd be my suggestion. Unknown Speaker 12:30 That is a very, very good suggestion. It's always better to do that. And of course, having a network is very important, but you don't have to start from scratch. You know, when you're doing it by yourself, you're gonna have overwhelm but if you can connect with the right people and vet them, because you know, there's more than one person that you can talk to and find someone you have a, you know, you really like vet them out, make sure you do your due diligence, and that just makes everything a lot easier for you especially on projects like that when you're having to do it. You also One of the questions you want to ask when you're vetting for someone like Logan is, tell me about your work with real estate investors, especially if you're an investor, there's going to be a very different mindset for someone who's 1030 exchanging for their estate plan, because they just want another buy and hold, they want something that's going to be a legacy product, you know, or asset for their children. And then someone who's looking at this as an income potential and they're having to do a 1031 exchange, right? So you really do want to work with someone like Logan and a broker who understands the mindset for that. So whatever you're trying to get out of it. Don't be shy to tell them this is what I'm trying to get out of it. Have you ever worked with someone like me before? How did that go and have a conversation so you can you can feel like if they really understand you, because it'll make it a lot better? Logan Freeman 13:53 Absolutely. Fantastic advice. I don't have anything to add to that. That's Brain Price 13:59 Awesome. So Let's talk about you know, how what are the deals looking like in in Kansas City? And what kind of things you're looking for when you are putting a deal together for sure. Actual investors? Logan Freeman 14:10 Well, I'll just talk about a deal that we're working on right now. So I mean, we've got, you know, a portfolio of properties in what's called Independence, Missouri, which is just about 15 minutes, just east of our downtown. And, you know, it's 426 units. And here's what's unique about this property, or these these three different properties is we we went under contract right around the end of February, right, so kind of before, or at the end of February, beginning of March COVID was kind of a thing, not really yet. But what we did, we did see was was scarce, you know, scarcity in the market from a competitive standpoint. So, we were able to and I broker deals in this sub market all the time, we're able to look at the comps that were in that area and say, okay, you know, stuff usually trades 5556 a door over here. We're going under contract at 49. And it crossed 400 plus units, that equals two or $3 million worth of equity on the front end of this. So we saw less competition on the pricing, which was really important, then we were very curious to see how, obviously, occupancy stayed and then collections, right. And so those are the two biggest things right now is, is, you know, what are the collections look like? And what type of debt Are you trying to accomplish and try to place on this property. Those are the two biggest things. And so the collections on this have stayed above 92%. And across 400 plus units, that's really, really good. And then actually, they started to continually, you know, implement their business plan. So their value add business plan, which was going through the renovations, and then placing tenants at higher rents, so our noi on this property across those units has already increased $52,000 while we were on track, so I mean, that's pretty cool, right? Jennifer Gilgoric 15:56 That ain't too shabby. Logan Freeman 15:58 Yeah. Jennifer Gilgoric 16:00 Didn't work with that. That's good enough for me. Wow. Logan Freeman 16:02 So you know, I mean, I think that we're still trading anywhere between a 6% and a 7% cap rate here in Kansas City, depending on location, obviously the asset type and what the business plan could be. Our cap rates are still pretty attractive, just when you think about when you can go get debt, maybe 3% three and a half percent. So there's a good spread between capitalization rates that you're buying properties at and the debt that you're putting on it. And so there's there's a good spread there to be able to make some some dollars and some cash flow here in Kansas City. The other thing I would say that we're seeing a big opportunity and nobody's looking at because obviously COVID but his neighborhood retail shopping centers, and what I mean by that is not your big box retailers like your TJ Maxx is your Kohl's and those things these are Dollar General being the the anchor Family Dollar being the anchor, and then you have a chiropractor, you have a dentist, you have all of these service Based e commerce resistant tenants in the in the building, and these things are trading between eight and 9% cap rates. And the interesting piece about that is that we're able to look back five or six months now to see what have what have collections look before COVID during COVID? And where are they at right now. So you have data that you can make intelligent decisions on. Brain Price 17:22 You know, it's really interesting because a lot of people talk about, you know, staying out of commercial real estate all together. They said, Don't even touch it. But yeah, with stuff like that. I mean, it is people got to go to the chiropractor, or the dentist and stuff, there's no way to be virtual with that, you know, it's got to find meaning. Logan Freeman 17:42 They gotta, they got to do that stuff. And, and I don't know where everybody's located, but I mean, I took my wife out for our four year engagement anniversary last night at dinner, you know, we're in Kansas City, you know, I mean, so, but like, like I said, I mean, you gotta be really careful with The locations in the tenant mix. But when you find the right type of properties, nobody else is looking at that. And that's where you want to, to really kind of hone in on is where there's less competition, because you're not going to overpay for something. Jennifer Gilgoric 18:12 I think e commerce resistant is really a buzzword. But a lot of people didn't understand what that meant. And we're talking about like, that came out right at the beginning of COVID. And then people, you know, became this buzzword. And now it's like a real thing. Like, let's see what's going to happen, because at first it was like, well, this is gonna kill small business, but I actually see with supply line differences and people getting so angry, you know, for social issues and other things like that at big box realty retailers. And what they feel is maybe not the best practices for their towns, I think that that there is going to be a different wave that's going to push small businesses and towns that employ local people that don't work together, because that's really the backbone and it's the heart of our country too. So I See it's coming back, I see these things coming back in this push to want to localize. And I am like so for that, you know, you can be both expansive and local. And there's ethical wonderful ways to do that that actually helps the economy and helps your neighbor and is good for everyone. So I love that we're having these conversations and I think it's super cute that you celebrate your engagement anniversary Yes. Logan Freeman 19:26 When you have two small children we have a three week old we have a 17 month old anytime that I can get wow our one on one because my I always tell her my three week old boy has has stolen my wife away like all he does. So it was really nice to have a date night last night. Yeah, Jennifer Gilgoric 19:47 that's a big smile on your face. And that's really super sweet. If y'all don't see it y'all need y'all need to catch the video episode because he's got like the like the blush in his cheeks and he's staying on the planet. So that's just Sweet. Logan Freeman 20:00 She's my everything. Tammy Geerling 20:04 So okay, so where do you see it? Okay, so now we're still involved in like the weirdest time of everybody's life. Right? But But businesses are still going investors are still investing and we still have all this that we're thinking about. So besides retail and e commerce resistant retail, is there any other trends that you're seeing in your little micro area, which is the Kansas City Metroplex area? Logan Freeman 20:28 Yeah, you know, I think a few things the The first being that I want to differentiate between the different types of multifamily real estate there's what I call RPN or renting by necessity, or RBC renting by choice, you know, when this all happened, all of the class a multifamily guys were shouting for joy, oh, we're gonna be fine. Our rents are going to be great. You know, our guys are white collar tenants. They can pay, you know, $3 a square foot for rent and they're all excited. Well as that has started to come down. They started those folks. But this pandemic has hit the white collar now as well, if you look at the trends, so what's happening is those folks are not paying their rents and they're educated enough to know that they might live in a market that they can lawyer up and say, Hey, I'm not paying my rent. So what's very interesting is the push from what are called class a multifamily back down to the B and C class multifamily properties because those folks are out there. They're essential workers, and they're still paying their rents. And so, you know, that's one trend I would say is my sister is moving back from Kennewick Washington or Yakima Washington right now. And she moved back and we have all of these new deliveries downtown, and they're all Class A and they're all highly amenitized. And guess what she got. She got an upgraded from a studio to a one bedroom. She got three months free rent, no amenity charge and free parking for three months. That is a Big indicator to me saying those guys are doing everything that they can just to get their rents up just to get their debt service, you know, cover. And so I think there's a big push now back to affordable and, you know, rents that are $1 $52 62 square foot here in our market, not 250 and $3. And people are starting to say, Man, I think I might want a little bit more space, you know. And so we've always focused on those larger units with garages, people love garages here, they got cars. And so we've always focused on that. So that's one big trend. I think the second trend that we're seeing right now is I don't know how to put this but it would be. We see folks that have traditionally been in the equities and the bond markets just from an investment standpoint, saying, Hmm, I wonder if there's something else right, especially folks that are 55 to 65. And they're saying oh my gosh, I just lost 33% of my portfolio, what can I do? That's not not going to be, you know, tangent on what the stock market is happening. So we've been educating, we've been doing a lot of work just talking about the different, you know, hedges against inflation, right? I mean, you think about that you think about the devaluation of the dollar with the Fed printing all of this money. So that's another thing to keep in mind. And we're, you're seeing, obviously, a lot of folks run to gold and precious metals right now. Because they're worried that the dollar is not going to be worth anything. I think the dollar is gonna be worth, you know, $1 for now, but at the same time, we've been seeing a lot of folks that maybe weren't interested in real estate, previously say, Hey, I didn't know I could invest in real estate passively. I thought I had to deal with toilets, tenants and trash. And I'm like, No, you don't. You can invest with somebody that deals with that stuff for you and get the same benefits. So I think the second trend that we're seeing is, that conversation is happening a lot more and more fully. are open to it as they they've seen kind of some of their their investments go to go to nothing to dust to fairy dust, Tammy Geerling 24:08 I heartily agree that there are many people now who are conservative by nature that, you know, they walked into to get their w two or you know, they're they said, Okay, you got these five phones. Here's the conservative one. Here's this, just pick one. And now they're hearing more about the things we talked about all the time solo 401k starting your own business, being able to be your own bank and aggressively make your money work for you. And they're like, Hey, I didn't even know I could do that. And then and then Is that legal? You know, it's weird how some there's this limiting belief that pushes back against being abundant or you letting the law work for you. Right? And that is a very limiting belief. So So get that out of your head and realize that there are laws that are there to help you. They want you to have a savings. The last thing we want is for people to have to live on. So security, it's not going to be there anymore. And the government does have programs for entrepreneurs and solopreneurs to be able to save into build a retirement because that person is is a benefit to society, you're a benefit to capitalism, or soda, or whatever we end up with, in this huge upheaval, people who are able to buy and add and keep themselves healthy because they have the income to do so and eat yummy, healthy food, because they can afford to do so are a lot more attractive than the people who lose everything in a public market. They thought they did well, and then they end up on some system, you know, and so utilize these things. This is where the pushes this is what the government's trying to do to help people educate yourself and then put these things into place. Yeah. Brain Price 25:45 And and also to note, the Fed actually is, you know, since 2008, they actually are investing in more distressed securities, which is part of what they their new thing that they have, they're not just printing money like they usually do so right on, so It's kind of another thing too in the Fed is kind of investing in real estate as well. So in that case, you know that it's a unique thing that they found in 2008. So that's kind of another thing as they print more and more money from this pandemic, you know, they're likely going to get into securities as well which will be having an impact on the real estate market. Logan Freeman 26:20 Now one last thought on that it's great point is that I just wrote an article on LinkedIn about this, the head of the SEC is pushing very hard for more flexibility for people with their solo 401 K's and they want them to be able to get into privatized investments like real estate, like businesses, all those things so you know, we're seeing some trends here especially during the COVID I mean, if the head of SEC is pushing for that I mean that's a that's a pretty interesting you know, what I call clue in the news right? The clues news Absolutely. Yep. Jennifer Gilgoric 26:53 Okay guys, so we've been talking to Logan Freeman Logan is with a Live Free Investments you You can go to live free investments calm just the way you spell it, no spaces and you can find out all about him. You can see him on another podcast. You can read his great quotes like one says knowledge alone is not power it is potential power knowledge plus massive strategic action equals power. Like Logan has like a lot of really good ones. Probably gonna end up stealing and not really stolen them. And, or, you know, at Logan, you're gonna hear someone say, Oh, I heard this girl Jennifer this great quote, you're gonna be like, that's my quote. Logan Freeman 27:32 I love it. I love it. I grant you access to anything that's on there. Jennifer Gilgoric 27:37 So don't, don't don't give me free rein loaded because I will take it and I will just run like a chicken with its head cut off. Anyway, so we're getting to the end of things. Can you think of anything else that maybe some potential investors whether or not they're brand new or they're just looking to diversify their already large portfolios might might get from what you're doing right now. They're in the Kansas City. area, you know, Logan Freeman 28:00 I would just say it's time to take control of your financial future. And, and that starts with education. So, you know, a lot of folks get really scared when we start to talk about economics, but you have to understand the fundamentals are what's going on, not only with the economy, but the financial system that backs our economy. So it's super important to know that those are not one in the same. And so macro trends that are happening, how those are affecting the micro markets that you live in, and that you can invest in. So find somebody that's an expert, some and then there's so much education out there, you guys do a great job, there's so many podcasts, you know, just Google and start instead of watching 400 episodes of Netflix, you know, start watching, you know, 399 and one podcasts a day, you know, I mean, so it's time to myself and make it make some really good financial decisions because it'll help you in the future. So that's all I would say. Jennifer Gilgoric 28:53 We've said a lot and I just actually love Logan, your spirit and you just have all this energy and I just wish you All the best of luck and I hope we have you on again. Thanks so much, Tammy. We're gonna have to end it before I just like grab him up and I adopt him in some way. This lovely family. Thank you again, Logan. Logan Freeman 29:13 Thank you guys. Jennifer Gilgoric 29:15 Tammy tell them how they can reach Logan and find more information and all that other good stuff. Tammy Geerling 29:20Absolutely. Thank you again, Logan, for all the great advice and we will have everything of Logan's on our show notes. So anywhere you can find us at leafy legal. We are on all the podcast platforms. We're all over social media. So we will have all of Logan's links there. And thank you again, Jennifer and Brian, for hosting for us today. And we hope to see everybody next time. Have a great day. We're out for now. Bye bye you guys. Male Announcer 30:01 Attention real estate investors and entrepreneurs. Did you know that real estate investors are a primary target for lawsuits according to the National Survey of the court data 25% of Americans risk being sued in their lifetime. However, if you are a real estate investor, you have a 95% chance of being sued in the next 20 years. Leafy Legal Services helps you protect your assets and strategically grow your business and wealth Leafy Legal Services are experts at the series LLC and Delaware statutory trust two of the newest and most ideal legal structures for real estate investors leaving legal services at the most personalized and affordable solutions for setting up LLC as property owners are always at risk when it comes to their assets. anonymity is so important. If you own just a rental house and you own your home you have to protect yourself and your properties from any potential legal issues. Leafy Legal Services have the right solutions to make sure you are happy and feel secure or they offer cost effective documentation that suits their client's needs. For a free consultation and ebook, visit levy elite services.com They are waiting to hear from you leafylegalservices.com Female Announcer 32:07 Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Don't wait take action now levy legal services calm protect your assets, grow your business and manage your wealth.