I spent 24hrs with a blue collar millionaire

Transcript from https://podmenti.com/t/35f935de430f7879

Everyone this is a very special episode. It's meant for YouTube. So I know you're listening to this right now on like Spotify or Apple Podcast or whatever, but go to YouTube right now and watch it.
This episode is where I go with a guy named Mark, who I found on Instagram, and he restores brownstones.
And I asked him everything about his financials, how the business works.
But it was a very visual thing, so we decided to make it a video. So again, go to YouTube.
Or you could just listen to it right now. You're probably at the gym or on your way to work. But hope you guys enjoy this episode. Let us know in the comments if you want more of this type of stuff. And I hope you like it.
I feel like I can rule the world, I know I can be what I want to
I'm putting my law in it like a day's all on the road, less travel, next week. How much did you spend on it again? Two point eight to buy it. Two million to build it. So that's four point eight in and you're gonna sell it for what did you say, six and a half? Six six point two.
I saw on Instagram the other day, his name's Mark O'Brien. He buys and restores and sells brownstone homes in New York City. I thought it sounded awesome and I thought I don't want to make my living using screens all the time. I wanna figure out how his life is, how his business is, the economics behind it. And so I called him up, I'm gonna spend the day with him, and we're gonna figure out all the numbers and if this is actually something cool to do. Is his business actually any good?
Is his lifestyle any good? Do I wanna trade places with him? And at the end of this video, I'm gonna give him a sample score. We're gonna look at the economics of his business, does it make a lot of money? And then we're gonna have a lifestyle category where we ask ourselves, is this actually something that you feel pride in? Is it a good lifestyle? So let's get to it.

Oh.
I f
I messed up.
I can't even figure out how to use Apple Map to get to where he lives, let alone build a
Fricking brownstone. Alright, so let's go this way.
Okay. So he DMed us.
where to meet him. It's 1145. We're a few minutes away. We're gonna walk a couple blocks. This guy, he looks like the Dose Ecky's man, like the most interesting man alive. He's got these kind of like movie star good looks and I don't know too much about him other than
He looks awesome and he has a cool job. And so where we're meeting is at his apartment.
And then we're going to go to a town home that he's currently restoring, as well as a uh
Commercial uh
property that he's restoring. I'm excited, but I'm a little nervous. I don't want to look stupid because I know nothing about like construction. I'm wearing red wing boots, but the reality is I'm cosplaying. I'm a yuppie guy.
Just trying dress like
A blue collar guy, so like
Hopefully he doesn't call me out on that, but
It's the truth.
Yeah.
Mark O'Brien.
What's up, dude? Sam, what's up, my man? Hey man. All right.
Nice to finally meet you guys. Yes. We're gonna start.
With this place. So where are we now?
This is your house?
Bank Street. It's it's uh it's a project.
And uh
But I'm living in it.
So look I usually buy things that are that have rats in the cellar and
Holes in the roof and
Um
Water damage everywhere, mold and
and problems. But this one when I walked into it
I was like, this is cute. It's 180 years old. It's 180? 180 years old. I mean it's super old. How much did you pay for this place? Five five. How much money are you gonna have to invest in it?
At this stage closer to six. How much can you sell it for?
Seventeen.
Can we see it?
Yeah, let's go.
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and you wanna start a business in this space, we have put together this thing called a blue collar business database. It's a database with hundreds of different business ideas where you could use your hands, you could start immediately, lots of different metrics about why the business is potentially interesting. And so if you're interested in that, click the link below, totally free. All right, now back to the episode. So when I walked in these sh these floors were shiny.
I just you know, it just glistened. I thought I love the floors.
I came in here.
I love the fireplace.
And speaking we talked a little bit about
buying the old furniture like I'm really not fancy I love just stacking
my I love living in the West Village, which is which is super fancy.
But I st I bring my the people are like, You bring all that firewood in? Like where are you gonna put it? Like this is the beauty of living in a in a house. It's insane that a home that's gonna sell for seventeen million dollars you are uh that's not how they're gonna use it. That's right. So when do you think this will be done, this project?
So it's been two and a half years that I've been waiting for permits.
You know, it's landmark. Do you just sit and do nothing? No, it's it's a lot of work of architects, engineers.
getting uh soil bearing bearing tests. You know, they've gotta break up the the foundation down below in the in the cellar.
and I can show it to you and then they they want to see where's my neighbor's foundation, where's the footing, where where's my footing compared to their footing.
But it's like uh just getting the permits and doing all this regulatory stuff, it seems like that's like
The thing that
Uh like when people talk about like products that they're gonna sell on the internet, they think, Oh my product's amazing. I'm like, yeah, but like the reality is is you have to be a good marketer. Seventy percent of the value is like, are you good at like buying ads online? With this, it's like, well I can build this amazing place, I can make a profit on it, I can do it cheaply, but it's like
Yeah, but can you spend the years like
Jumping through the hoops of like getting approvals and all this other stuff that you didn't like it's it's the cost to carry it. It's and time. Time will kill every deal.
And and often it does.
Can we see the rest? Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
So and actually so this is funny because I'm using this as my bedroom
Because
I I moved in, I thought if I'm gonna be here for six months, maybe a year.
And then um it's gonna be a demolition site. I'm gonna restore all this so there's gonna be, you know, plastic up everywhere and workers running around. So I'm gonna
Just keep the footprint here and let's start working upstairs. I don't know much about real estate, but it the limited amount of stuff that I've done, it seems like everything costs way more and takes way more time. Yes. Yeah, it's it's it's just out of control. So this is my my desk, my office. Look at this fireplace here though. I mean isn't that
Is this your brand? Oh that's my vodka brand, yeah, broken broken shed.
New Zealand Vaca. I make it from way.
Hundred percent New Zealand products uh water from New Zealand.
Way from New Zealand.
Which is um you know. This is a business that you own and started? Yeah.
I spoke to a guy about this recently and
Um
He was like well how did you how did you get into real estate? Like what
What was that thing that made you get into real estate?
And I said, desperation.
Like I had I I just I was freaking out. I had two and a half kids. I was living in Greenwich, Connecticut, in a house that I had no right
Was it a fancy house? No, that's what no it was. It was like a thing that you were gonna fix. Yes, exactly. Well it was something that I would have had somebody else fix. Right, okay. Because I wasn't building houses.
took a project that maybe was a little bit over your head and then you're like, Well I I have to make it work. Right.
Yeah. And did that work? Yes. Yeah. And that's kinda always how I've lived. So you're like And that was like how you got into real estate.
Yes. It was it was I w I I was completely over leverage. So I'm a big
Big believer.
in in leverage.
and use other people's money, the bank's money. But it's a great way to go broke and p get yourself in a lot of trouble.
Uh and I know people that have done that in
hasn't hasn't worked out very well. Dude, that's like how so many great things happen, particularly uh I'm th I just turned thirty seven, but like I think about this all the time. Like if I lost it all, okay, I have young kids, I'm now like a proper man, I have people who rely on me.
And like
If this goes it's like it's my job to like fulfill
You know, to take care of this group. It's like the most emasculating feeling ever of like shit. I have not taken care of the thing that I'm supposed to take care of. I feel behind, and now it's my back against the wall and I have to and it's like, well, that's the beginning of a great story. Hopefully it's uh gonna be a great story, but that's like a very scary primal feeling. I have nightmares about that as like a dad.
Did you um
I think should we also do w do you want to walk step outside and
Um oh now the sun's coming out.
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How many
So
You've been doing this. How old are you?
How was it?
I don't know. Come on.
Fifty five.
Fifty. Fifty? I don't know, man. See, this is why I hate playing this game. No, I'm sixty sixty three. Oh I hate that game. Oh So do I. I usually say go fuck yourself, I'm not playing.
Your specialty, I think it's town homes, right? Townhouses brownstones uh rest restoration. How many have you bought and sold? So this is my third
My third big project.
Um
of restoring the bronze. So sixty two Green Avenue in Fort Green.
And then I've got and I've got
Other projects.
Like in Crown Heights.
One over here on Jane Street that
I I um
act as the owner's rep.
So I don't own it, but I
I
You know run the run the project. And then before that you were just selling real estate. No, but I borrowed against my house so I could buy another one. That's insane that you would get into this business without knowing anything about it. And at a big l high level. I mean you know. But did it for how much did you get how much had you inv you took loan out? What was your So all right, so so the f the numbers on the first one
And the numbers back then were basically you
You buy for a million, bill for a million, and sell for three million. So you make a million bucks.
So this house was eight hundred thousand.
I
I built it for about 800,000.
And I made a lot of mistakes.
I mean crazy. So you're in for one six.
Yeah, and I sold it for like
Uh two
Two three or something?
Over how much time.
Uh
Like less than a year.
So that's like
A double, right?
Is that a double or is that a home run, right? Uh I mean it could have been
Uh but the next one I made a million bucks.
I was like, That's a home run. I was like, I like this. Okay, so you're like, I'm good.
I'm gonna test that.
So then I started doing more. I did four, I would get like four going at a time. I'd buy a piece of property. I would go I'd run with my kids in a stroller. Three of them.
And uh
I'd see an old lady and I'd be like, I love your house. I got these all these kids, look at these kids, I'm trying I'm always I'm looking for something a little bit bigger. I live over on Rocky Point.
Right now, there were something bigger.
And this woman patched like, oh yeah, hi kids, and you know, yeah, well give me your number and I can I give her a number and I would do that, put it in mailboxes.
I just it was a numbers game. So it's it's kinda like boom and bust a little bit. Yes, very much. And it's funny I I mean does that stress you out? Yeah.
But
I I've I've gotten good at it, I think.
You know I do a lot of yoga.
I thought it was gonna be like hammer shit all day and it's like fun.
No. You wanna go see the. Yeah, let's share it.
Huge.
How big is this one?
This I
But like
Uh two two is years ago. So this has taken me
Way too long. Plus it's all square footage.
So now it's like
Forty
Five hundred.
Okay, so you pay two eight, how much are you gonna put in?
Uh uh putting in
One point eight, that's turning it to more like two million.
And what can you get for it?
Six two.
Pretty slim.
So check this out. This is this is super cool. This I just discovered it, like maybe
Maybe uh three months ago.
I it was it had plastic
Vinyl four over it.
And I just assumed it was
Rotten.
And I was going to
Sweep it out or something and and I
pulled on pulled on a piece of the plastic and it came off.
And I was like, I wonder what's under there.
Forty year old.
And uh so I s I took my grinder out.
And started grinding and mad. I I'm finding
I find this.
So look, some people say yeah it's it's
Kind of banged up. You should really just
Put something over the top of it.
And Sack style.
I'm like I I don't care. So I this is all an extension here. So this
Two things that I do. I like to go onto the roof.
I like to finish or three things. The roof
The seller.
And I widen the staircase so you can kinda tell
Yeah, I the
'Cause
Brownstones are notorious for being a little dark.
In the middle.
Because there's no windows in the middle, typically.
So I widened the staircase and I put a lot of light and a bulkhead on the top. So you get light down the middle and then
This is all, you know, original original
Those bricks are those original? Yeah.
So these bricks are 140 years old? Yeah. That's pretty awesome. So that's another thing. I expose the brick. So this has
She locked on it when I buy it.
So I ripped the sheetlock down or not sheetlock, plaster.
But usually the plaster starts cracking and it decays.
I guess 140 years ago was eighteen eighty, right?
Yeah. Yeah. Uh
Or eighteen ninety.
Yeah.
So someone
Made that.
in eighteen ninety. That's pretty crazy.
Yeah, where do you see the the cellar? The cellar is literally rock.
Horse hair and mud. Let's see it. Is the is the is the way they made these foundations.
Anyway, so this is the this is a typical rubble wall, right? So you've got
Um
B rocks. Rocks and and then I grew up in a basement like this and it smelled exactly like this. I love it.
Um
So I wanted to keep all that exposed, but
I also
I think it's important to
Get as much usable space as you can. And this is basically free square footage because
You know in terms of FAR floor area ratio, they don't count a base because it's below grade.
So I try to make it and right now you're not seeing it at the best.
Um I I gotta put baseboard on, finish the floor.
and and really spruce it up so it feels like it's real space. It's not it's not a
So how much do you think this home home will sell for?
Six two.
What type of person would buy uh this House?
What kind of person? Like uh what would the job be?
Um probably like you know yeah, I get a lot of creatives.
Here in Brooklyn. Fort Green.
No, more like people like these days in social media and doing some some kind of media business.
Maybe you'll be buying a six million dollar home in Brooklyn. So this is a rental basically. So you come under the stair.
Oh wow.
And this will be
Uh like a five thousand dollar rental or in law suite.
So you come in, you've got a f your fireplace original.
Um
Big open living room.
Kitchen.
Washer dryer.
Yeah.
Bathroom.
Bedroom.
Oh, now we get the backyard.
Bedroom.
Wash your dryer.
I know it's in a weird place.
And then a backyard.
When will this be done? How much longer?
Uh I'm hoping to have this, you know, photos taken like in two weeks.
This will get
I'll put like a what does photos mean? Like pictures to start marketing it.
But it's not gonna be done in two weeks.
No, but I can I can start selling it and start
So when you hope for this to be sold?
Um
End of the summer.
Oh okay, and moving would be when
Oh, all right, cool. So you're nearing the end of the two year project, two and a half year project. Yeah.
So this gets this will get pavers.
Um the the
uh they're subcontractor. So everybody these days is a subcontractor. Nobody's
Yeah, I'm not hiring.
But you're gonna come out of pocket with it.
Yeah.
Dude, there's so much risk.
Yeah.
Alright, I work on I work on a computer all day. This is my work.
Or
This is weird, but
We did it.
I want to do like

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What do you think? You want to see that? Yes, I'll do that. My man, can we can I can I just
Uh can I can I get him to cut it?
Or you w you want to break it?
Can he cut?
Just for two one minute.
Just w one one minute. He's he's not a spas.
Are you right with this?
Let's do it.


But you gotta be Yeah. You gotta be careful.
I got it.
Yeah, really hold it tight.
Can you cut that?
All the way through?
All the way through, right? All the way?
Oh my god, this is so bad.
Yeah.
So
Work hard.
What was he saying about the story about uh getting sued for being too dangerous? Yeah, I mean if OSHA if OSHA showed up.
Thank you, sir.
I'm sorry to uh mess up your work station, but
Let's see.
He's showing me how he worked out when he was in jail.
That's right.
Just
Oh, there it is.
That's pretty good.
Oh wow.
That you should put that on your hinge profile.
Alright, I'll try.
Are you goofy with me?
Woo
Not nearly as good.
Well.
That's good and aggressive. You're just like right'cause you'cause you can probably do it on your skateboard.
No, I can't do that on my skateboard. No, no to you, try.
Well, I know I can't do that.
Okay, we looked at his Manhattan place, we just looked at his Brooklyn place.
This place, how much did you spend on it again?
Two point eight to buy it.
Not about
Two
I've got two million to build it. So that's four point eight in and you're gonna sell it for what did you say, six and a half? Six six point two.
Six point two and that's over three years. Right. So you'll make something like five hundred thousand dollars a year. So if you want to buy a six million dollar forty five hundred square feet, right?
Yeah.
Home in Fort Green. This place is awesome. Around the corner from Spike Spike Lee.
I mean what a good time for head to the country. Alright, thank you. Very hospitable. We're gonna get our sideway. Alright, God bless. See you soon.
Alright, thank you for everything. I'll talk to you a little bit. Alright, we just got back to the office. Let's give this thing a score. Okay, so I've divided this thing up by business and lifestyle because they're both important. We're gonna do money, machine, and mo.
And first of all, I love Mark. I'm gonna hang out with Mark again. But in terms of money, this business was a pain in the butt, and I don't think it made that much money. I'm gonna give it.
A three. Basically, I think that he probably does something like 500,000 to a million dollars a year in income, but that's on a good year, on a bad year.
you probably couldn't like lose money in it and it was just a lot of work for that amount of money.
Second, machine. Can it run without him?
And he has a team of people that he uses in most of his projects, but he's really like the catalyst for this whole thing working.
I'm gonna give it
Another three. And for Mo.
The biggest mo here is I don't think people are crazy enough to do this.
But
Anyone.
with enough money could probably do it. There's lotta people in the city who can. I'm gonna give it a two.
So what does that sum up to? An eight.
So the business score.
An eight out of thirty.
All right, now let's do lifestyle. So can you have pride in the product that you're making?
Do you like the people who you work with and your customers and does it provide any freedom?
So for pride.
He was very
proud of what he was doing. I was actually proud for him. I thought it was amazing. I'm gonna give that one
a nine. He said that sometimes he'll make stuff and like the buyer will just come in and like destroy it, which would really suck. But he still gets a nine. Now people, I met some of his co-workers, some of the guys doing work.
It was awesome. They were really cool and lovely.
I'm gonna give it a seven just because some of the people who he sells his properties to
I probably don't wanna hang out with some of those folks. And now freedom. I'm gonna give this one
A five.
The reason I'm gonna do a five
is because each project has an end date, so he could take some time off if he wanted to.
But when he's there, like in the thick of it, it seems like Saturday and Sunday is included, he's always on the phone, like dealing with regulations and things like that. So the lifestyle score gets a twenty-one.
I don't know.
Alright, so here's what that adds up to. For business, he gets an eight.
For
Life style of twenty one. Twenty one. Twenty one.
Uh.
Poor Biz.
He is gonna get an eight.
Lifestyle twenty one. Add all that up. What's that up to? That's twenty nine.
So Mark O'Brien
buying, restoring.
Selling
Brownstones.
Sam Spor.
twenty nine.
I feel like I can rule the world, I know I can be what I want to
I put my all in it like my days off On the roadless travel never looking back
All right, let's take a quick break to talk about a podcast. Cause if you're listening to this, you like podcasts. And what's better than one podcast? Another podcast. And let me tell you, another podcast you should check out. It's called Success Story. If you like hearing about different success stories and hearing QA sessions with successful business leaders or hearing keynote presentations, or just checking out conversations about sales and
business and marketing tactics. This is a great podcast for you. So check it out wherever you get your podcast.