Speaker 1:
Live from the KC Property Guys and KC Pier Studio in beautiful Kansas City as we discuss investing in the Kansas City area.
Speaker 2:
Home to over 200 fountains and more barbecue restaurants per capita than anywhere in the nation.
Speaker 1:
It’s the Kansas City Real Estate Industry Leaders Show. A show about industry leaders from the local Kansas City Metro market for Kansas City real estate related professionals and enthusiasts like you.
Speaker 2:
Like you.
Speaker 1:
And now, here’s your hosts, Eric and Lucas Scheele.
Lucas Scheele:
How’s it going everybody? My name is Lucas Scheele and welcome back to the Kansas City Real Estate Industry Leaders Podcast. I’m here with my cohost Eric Scheele, as well as Rex Rodenbaugh with KC Investor Funding. So Eric, you want to just top it off right now?
Eric Sheele:
Yeah, you bet. So it’s great to have you in studio Rex.
Rex Rodenbaugh:
Yeah, I’m glad to be here.
3-in-1 Podcast
Eric Sheele:
Yeah? Fantastic. So what we do on a weekly basis, we talk about this, is we actually have three podcasts in one. We bring in real estate industry leaders, such as yourself, from all types of industries, from home services to lending specifically, with you today about investing in the Kansas City area to realtors, to anything related to real estate. We’re investors at the end of the day, right?
Rex Rodenbaugh:
Right.
Eric Sheele:
So we talk investments and we talk to people that are related to that field. It’s a lot of fun. We also do some KC Property Guys podcasting where we specifically talk about our industry of investing in the Kansas City area, which you’re a part of as well. So we’re probably going to touch upon that today, which will be great. And then we also do some things of course with KC Pier, and so we have segments that we do. So today we actually get to have a real estate industry leader with Rex and KC Investor Funding, right? It’s an alternative funding source for investors, right? And so it’s great to have you in the studio today.
Rex Rodenbaugh:
Thank you very much.
Eric Sheele:
So what we normally talk about and start is, what’s the elevator pitch? What’s your background? How’d this all get started? Because you are successful. I mean, you run a really good, you have a very good following in terms of investor funding and you have a nice funding backing. Of course, we actually have some relationships together in terms of KC Property Guys as well.
Rex Rodenbaugh:
Exactly.
KC Investor Funding Background
Eric Sheele:
And so you’ve kind of seen what we do and, and we, we have a really nice relationship, which was one of the reasons why you’re in studio and it’s great to have you in. But for those that aren’t familiar with you, what’s the background? What’s the one minute pitch of what you do and where you came from?
Rex Rodenbaugh:
A one minute pitch? Well, I moved to Kansas City in 2012.
Eric Sheele:
Right on.
Rex Rodenbaugh:
That’s really when I got started into real estate flipping. Prior to, I was actually a finance manager for a boat dealership, so that’s kind of where…
Eric Sheele:
You don’t want to be in real estate before 2012.
Rex Rodenbaugh:
Right.
Eric Sheele:
There’s a crash happening, right?
Rex Rodenbaugh:
Maybe a couple years before that.
Eric Sheele:
Yeah, maybe, maybe. But yeah, absolutely. Okay, 2012.
Rex Rodenbaugh:
So I was a finance manager for a boat dealership from ’04 through ’08, and that’s really where I got my flavor for finance and working with numbers.
Eric Sheele:
And lending, finance, absolutely. Through boats?
Rex Rodenbaugh:
Yep.
Eric Sheele:
At the Ozarks, correct?
Rex Rodenbaugh:
Lake of the Ozarks.
Eric Sheele:
Lake of the Ozarks, so we’re talking the big 30, 40, 50 foot boats that are… I could see it. So now we’re talking hundreds of thousands of dollars, correct?
Rex Rodenbaugh:
Right.
Eric Sheele:
In terms of some of the finance and that rolls over and lends itself really well with real estate.
Rex Rodenbaugh:
Yeah. So in 2012 when I started flipping homes and investing in the Kansas City area, I was raising capital through private investors. I was using hard money. So I really understood that, understood working with investors. I was physically slinging the hammer, doing all that stuff on my own projects.
Eric Sheele:
Got to start somewhere, right?
Lucas Scheele:
Yeah, definitely.
Rex Rodenbaugh:
And then so we did about 15 projects between 2012 and 2015.
Eric Sheele:
Okay.
Rex Rodenbaugh:
And then that’s when I realized, I want to get into the finance game and started what was Hard Money Lenders of Kansas City at the time. And in 2016 acquired a domain name kcinvestorfunding.com, which is where KC Investor Funding got started.
Eric Sheele:
Okay.
Lucas Scheele:
Cool.
Rex Rodenbaugh:
So that’s really where I’m at right now.
Eric Sheele:
Absolutely. So there’s a background of obviously finance, which lends itself to the Linden. As we mentioned, there’s also a flipping background is what I’m hearing. So you’re a real estate investor guy, right?
Rex Rodenbaugh:
I am.
Eric Sheele:
Playing that.
Rex Rodenbaugh:
Yeah, I try to practice what I preach.
Eric Sheele:
Yeah, practice what you preach. You’ve been there, you’ve slung the hammers and now you’ve gotten to the point where you’ve scaled and so you have this lending business, you also have a fix and flip business and you’re running contractors, much like what we do with KC Property Guys. It’s a big ocean out there.
Rex Rodenbaugh:
It’s probably not as a well oiled machine as yours, but it’s in the process.
Eric Sheele:
But that’s okay, right? Yeah, but everybody can call themselves an investor. I talk about that all the time, whether you do one house, two house, 10 house, 15 or 50, 72, whatever it may be, right? You are definitely an investor. And so that gives us a lot of commonalities and so it’s helped you better understand, at least me from an investing in the Kansas City area standpoint, from KC Property Guys, and that’s one thing I recognize quickly is you got it. You understood it, you understand the game, you understand the needs. You actually take care of me as an investor to make sure that I can continue to scale, and you’ve seen a lot of the scaling that we’ve been doing on KC Property Guys, and that’s been appreciated. And that’s one of the reasons why you’re in here is because you are really a real estate industry leader in terms of lending, in my opinion, with the KC Investor Funding. So that background has paid off well.
Rex Rodenbaugh:
Thank you.
Eric Sheele:
Right? And for anybody that’s in real estate, people are listening, reading and watching, it’s a love, right? It’s a passion.
Rex Rodenbaugh:
It is.
Eric Sheele:
And that’s why we’re here and we enjoy talking to people and talking real estate. And I know this, you haven’t mentioned it yet, but I’m going to throw it out there. I know you’re a realtor as well, right?
Rex Rodenbaugh:
I am.
Eric Sheele:
So, yeah, you’re knee deep. In fact, you’re waist deep. You might be chest deep. You’re in it, man.
Rex Rodenbaugh:
I’m all in, man.
Lucas Scheele:
You’re in the game.
Eric Sheele:
Yeah. Right on. You’re lending, right? You’re fixing and flipping.
Rex Rodenbaugh:
Yep.
Eric Sheele:
You can sell those properties at the end of the game, right? And I assume that you became a realtor probably much like the reasons why I started KC Piers, because you got tired of paying realtors.
Rex Rodenbaugh:
That’s right, yeah.
Eric Sheele:
Right? You wanted to save that 3% and be able to negotiate that at the end.
Rex Rodenbaugh:
Exactly.
Eric Sheele:
Absolutely. And I got tired of paying Pier guys and waiting for somebody to do it right.
Rex Rodenbaugh:
Right.
Eric Sheele:
And you didn’t like a realtor not doing your house right and getting it ready to then do the next flip, right?
Rex Rodenbaugh:
Exactly.
Eric Sheele:
So, absolutely. Well, that’s fantastic. It’s great to have you in.
Rex Rodenbaugh:
Thank you.
Eric Sheele:
And ever since 2012 you’ve been kind of developing this game.
Rex Rodenbaugh:
I have and I’m still working on it.
Lending Locally & Nationally
Eric Sheele:
Right? Okay. So the bulk of your lending, I assume, investing in the Kansas City area services?
Rex Rodenbaugh:
It does. I have two different sources of capital. One’s private investor capital, and that primarily funds the short term rehab or bridge loans in the Kansas City market that we do. And then I also have some institutional capital where I can go nationwide and then also have some longterm financing as well.
Eric Sheele:
The lending that you’re doing is all for investors locally or you actually you’re lending outside of Kansas City as well?
Rex Rodenbaugh:
I’m lending outside of Kansas City as well, but I would say about 60, 65% of my businesses is the Kansas City market.
Eric Sheele:
I would actually have thought it would have been higher. That’s interesting to know. And so those lending sources are local as well as national?
Rex Rodenbaugh:
Yep.
Eric Sheele:
That’s fantastic. So you’ve built this business, right? And you’ve built a side business with fixing and flipping and you got the realtor to back up there. So we ask everybody this, what are some unique skills that you feel like have kind of helped plod you along the path of building yourself to the point where you are today with investing in the Kansas City area?
Unique Skills & Self-Motivation
Rex Rodenbaugh:
Oh man, that’s a tough one.
Eric Sheele:
It’s a labor of love. I know that for sure. Right? I mean, you obviously have a passion for what you do. You take pride in what you do and when you take passion and pride, it tends to self-motivate.
Rex Rodenbaugh:
Yes.
Eric Sheele:
Right? And let’s talk about a common thread, Luke, of people that we bring in here. They are self motivated.
Lucas Scheele:
Oh absolutely.
Eric Sheele:
Right? And there’s something inside there. Their internal flame is always burning. Right? And we always try to put a finger on what that might be, but there is an internal flame in entrepreneurs, whether it’s a passion for people or passion for perfection or a passion for monetary gains or a passion or something inside them…
Lucas Scheele:
Or a multitude of passions.
Eric Sheele:
Right, that are driving them. Right? So you’ve never been asked that question before, huh? Never really taken the time to thought about it.
Rex Rodenbaugh:
Not really, no.
Eric Sheele:
Anything I mentioned come to mind or touch upon something.
Rex Rodenbaugh:
Of course. Of course.
Eric Sheele:
There’s some common threads there?
Rex Rodenbaugh:
I mean, yeah, it’s the desire to succeed in investing in the Kansas City area. I love what I do. I love working with numbers.
Eric Sheele:
Isn’t it fun to wake up, and a lot of people don’t get this. You’re lucky because a lot of people wake up and they dread going to work.
Rex Rodenbaugh:
Oh, yeah.
Eric Sheele:
And you don’t have that. And I know this for a fact, now I’m an early guy, I’m a 4:00 AM guy and there was one person…
Lucas Scheele:
I am not.
Eric Sheele:
I know you’re not, but you need to hear this. At 4:00 AM, 4:30 AM I can send off an email and I’m going to get a reply from this guy right here, right? And he’s the only guy in Kansas City that I will get a reply from.
Rex Rodenbaugh:
Yeah, that’s right.
Eric Sheele:
Right? He’s an early guy. And that’s that internal flame. So I’ll say this and maybe this will spark something. And yet people that have internal flames usually have some failure that they’re trying to avoid. They have something in their past that they just don’t want to go back to. So there has to be… Is there? Is there something that’s like, okay, well maybe you’re right, you’re touching upon something. Maybe you don’t even want to talk about it and we can move on, but is there something that that relates to that that helps drive that passion in you?
Rex Rodenbaugh:
Yeah, I mean, so one thing about me is I’m an open book. In 2008, I lost my job as a finance manager at Lake of the Ozarks because people stopped buying big boats. There was not really a need for me.
Eric Sheele:
Real estate crash, right? Real estate crash happens in 2008 the last thing you want to do and need is an extra boat. You’re trying to scrap and save your job and your house.
Rex Rodenbaugh:
Yeah. So one thing, I was relying on one source of income, which after that happened… Yeah. So I ended up going through bankruptcy and foreclosure in ’08.
Eric Sheele:
And you weren’t alone.
Rex Rodenbaugh:
No. There was a lot of people, yeah.
Eric Sheele:
Yeah, millions, millions of people.
Rex Rodenbaugh:
It’s a common conversation I have with people that call me about financing is, well, I had this issue.
Eric Sheele:
Yeah, they’re coming for alternative solutions because they can’t get traditional. So obviously, there’s a common background. That actually would really feed your business. You can relate to these people, which kind of goes back to the professional relationship as well of what we do with investing in the Kansas City area. And we have that kind of relationship, so that makes a lot of sense. Dave Ramsey had a bankruptcy and foreclosure. That’s a highly successful guy that manages money as well. I mean, that’s what comes to mind right off the bat. And so absolutely, those failures can be huge. And we talk about the mentality of industry leaders and business owners and typically a lot of people spur off of their rock bottom, and that had to be your rock bottom. You were married at the time?
Rex Rodenbaugh:
I was not married at the time, which was another one of my issues that I had. I was living in a bachelor lifestyle.
Eric Sheele:
Okay. Yeah, right on. Absolutely.
Rex Rodenbaugh:
Spending way too much money. But yeah, that’s something that I’d never want to go back to. I told myself, I never want to rely on one source of income, which that’s always in the back of my mind.
Eric Sheele:
Okay. So there’s the lending, there’s the realtor, there’s the fix and flip. There’s stability and redundancy and multiplicity, absolutely.
Rex Rodenbaugh:
Yeah. And so when I went through that, metaphorically, I was thinking, gosh, I built my house on sand and now I want to rebuild on stone. And that’s that’s how I looked at it.
Eric Sheele:
Yeah. It makes a ton of sense.
Rex Rodenbaugh:
So rebuilt everything, started from scratch. And I’m like, this is a new opportunity at life with investing in the Kansas City area.
Eric Sheele:
Yeah. Right.
Lucas Scheele:
Definitely.
Life Choices & Investing in the Kansas City Area
Eric Sheele:
We talk about that a lot too, the life choices where you’re given an A or a B. You’re given a left or a right. Which way? Are going to look at it half full or half empty? What is it, right? Is it lemons or is it lemonade? There’s lots of ways to talk about that. Right? So you either take what you’re given. Dude, I’m single, I’ve overspent, I’m bankrupt, I just lost my house. The world is a black hole. Or it’s like, okay man, I’ve got scrap it up, toughen up, learn from it and let’s make something of this. This could be great. And you don’t think this at the time, but I guarantee you could probably look back and like, gosh, where would I be if I hadn’t gone through that?
Rex Rodenbaugh:
Right.
Eric Sheele:
You’d be still be pushing boats and living a bachelor life and is that the passion that you have for what you’re doing today? Most likely not.
Rex Rodenbaugh:
No, not at all.
Eric Sheele:
And people don’t necessarily realize that is bottoming out is a life changing, positive event when you take it in the right mindset. It’s absolutely so true. And if you talk to life coaches or people that you consider mentors, they have that common theme in them that you have two ways to look at things. You can either look at it negatively or look at it positively. You have the choice, right, to interpret it as you wish.
Rex Rodenbaugh:
Exactly.
Eric Sheele:
Right? And people that are achievers tend to be optimists.
Rex Rodenbaugh:
Yeah, I had those negative thoughts for a short period of time, but then I was like, this is an opportunity for me with investing In Kansas City area.
Eric Sheele:
Yeah, it’s a progression.
Rex Rodenbaugh:
Yeah. I just started.
Eric Sheele:
Huh?
Lucas Scheele:
Just started it up from there.
Eric Sheele:
Absolutely.
Lucas Scheele:
You have to cover all the bases, especially when you’re running a very successful business as you are at right now, especially with being a realtor, you have all the bases covered so you don’t have to rely on other people.
Rex Rodenbaugh:
I would make a horrible employee, I’ll put it that way.
People Who Have Influenced You
Eric Sheele:
Right, right? And that’s true of most entrepreneurs. They would rather lead and fail than follow and succeed, and so that’s a really, really great touching point. Two or three people that have influenced you along the way? There had to be some people that you’ve looked up to that’s helped you kind of get to where you are today?
Rex Rodenbaugh:
The first one would be my dad.
Eric Sheele:
We hear that a lot, by the way.
Rex Rodenbaugh:
Really?
Eric Sheele:
We really do, yeah. A parent, father figure. Yeah, absolutely. That’s fantastic. Yeah, that’s great to hear.
Rex Rodenbaugh:
He was able to figure out, he can do anything. He can work on a car or fix a car, he could work on a house and fix a house. I mean, he’s a wealth of knowledge and I completely look up to him for that. His work ethic was strong and I think that’s where I get my work ethic from is him. So, yeah. He’s been a very influential person in my life. And then my wife, are you familiar with the Five Love Languages?
Eric Sheele:
Five loving?
Lucas Scheele:
I haven’t heard of this.
Rex Rodenbaugh:
Five love languages.
Eric Sheele:
Oh, five love… Yes, five love languages. Yes. I don’t know him intimately.
Rex Rodenbaugh:
My wife is a therapist so I get free counseling.
Lucas Scheele:
There you go.
Eric Sheele:
Excellent. Yeah. Keeps you grounded.
Rex Rodenbaugh:
So this is something that I learned. We found out what our love language is.
Eric Sheele:
Okay.
Rex Rodenbaugh:
So mine is words of affirmation.
Eric Sheele:
Okay.
Rex Rodenbaugh:
There’s words of affirmation, physical touch, quality time, can’t think of the others.
Eric Sheele:
But you know yours, and you probably know hers.
Rex Rodenbaugh:
Words of affirmation are mine. Quality time is hers.
Eric Sheele:
Okay, there you go.
Rex Rodenbaugh:
But she’s very good at encouraging me and she believes in me and I couldn’t be where I am today without her.
Eric Sheele:
You build people up, you don’t knock them down.
Rex Rodenbaugh:
Yeah.
Eric Sheele:
Right?
Rex Rodenbaugh:
Yeah.
Eric Sheele:
And so she’s probably pretty good at building you up.
Rex Rodenbaugh:
So those are the two most influential. I mean, the number three is… There’s a number of people that are in number three.
Eric Sheele:
Okay. Right on.
Rex Rodenbaugh:
And they all fall into that words of affirmation that have just built me up over time.
Eric Sheele:
Right on.
Lucas Scheele:
Nice.
Rex Rodenbaugh:
Yeah.
“Hey man, I want to get into this game.”
Eric Sheele:
Fantastic. So we also talk about in your business you work with investors, and we could go on and on about this. We’ll try to keep this somewhat short, but it is super interesting, at least to anybody related to real estate and the investment world, especially newbie investors. I’m sure you see a lot of new investors who are interested in investing in Kansas City area, the HGTV guys that say, “Hey man, I want to get into this game.”
Lucas Scheele:
The [inaudible 00:17:11].
Eric Sheele:
I see it being done and I want a part of this and they don’t necessarily realize all of that. But you’re having these probably initial conversations with a lot of these guys.
Rex Rodenbaugh:
I do.
Eric Sheele:
And you probably experience firsthand what we see as a repercussion of these guys entering the market. The phone calls that we get probably on a monthly basis of, “Hey, come by my house. I started, I failed, and I need help.” I mean, literally, anybody probably that has a presence and as an investor gets those phone calls. We get them on a monthly basis. So I’m guessing you get that quite a bit?
Rex Rodenbaugh:
Oh, I do.
Eric Sheele:
What do you see as failures in the business, whether it’s from the lending side or even the investor side? I think probably, let’s talk about it from the investor side because a lot of our listeners and watchers are would be or want to be or trying to be investors that you would probably have some great advice for them.
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Rex Rodenbaugh:
Well, a lot of the people that are new getting into the business, I think the first thing is that a lot of them don’t end up taking action or they get into it and they test it out a little bit and they try to find a deal and they can’t find deals and they get frustrated and they just give up.
Eric Sheele:
Okay.
Rex Rodenbaugh:
So I guess they don’t really fail because they never started.
Finding Deals is Key
Eric Sheele:
But we talk about that a lot on our KC Property Guy Side and finding deals, and we’ve even talked about with you and you know this too, as an investor, a flipper, finding deals is the key when investing in Kansas City area.
Rex Rodenbaugh:
It is.
Eric Sheele:
And it’s very tough to do, so I can easily see what you’re talking about. These guys just looking, and they find the realtor and the MLS isn’t producing and all of a sudden it dries up. They’re done.
Rex Rodenbaugh:
Now you take that another direction, the people that don’t give up, they keep looking for deals and then they get frustrated and they lose their patience on trying to find the right deal.
Eric Sheele:
Here we go. I know where you’re going with this.
Rex Rodenbaugh:
Yeah.
Eric Sheele:
Okay, and…
Rex Rodenbaugh:
And then they end up believing that they’ve got a good deal, even though they need to be buying it at a lot less.
Eric Sheele:
You make or break the deal when? When you sell it or when you buy it?
Rex Rodenbaugh:
When you buy it.
Eric Sheele:
When you buy it.
Rex Rodenbaugh:
That’s right.
Eric Sheele:
Every single time. You can get into a job and you can tear down the walls and find the termites.
Lucas Scheele:
They just get over eager?
Eric Sheele:
You can get…
Lucas Scheele:
Just try to jump right into the water?
Rex Rodenbaugh:
So a comment that a lot of people will make is, I don’t really care how much money I make on this deal. I just want to get my feet wet.
Eric Sheele:
Ouch.
Rex Rodenbaugh:
Yeah.
Eric Sheele:
Have patience.
Rex Rodenbaugh:
Your first deal, I believe, you have to have the biggest margins on there because you’re going to have more unknowns. They’re so many unexpected things that are going to happen in that first deal, and there’s even unexpected things that happen in your 15th deal.
Eric Sheele:
You tear down the foundation wall and all of a sudden the crack shows up. You tear down the sheet rock and the termites are there because the previous home owner did not have a Kansas City termite control service in place. You can absorb those types of things when you buy right.
Rex Rodenbaugh:
Right.
Eric Sheele:
Right. It’s critical and impatience is the first precursor to a really bad day coming in your future because you’re going to get into job and you’re going to get yourself involved and those first two or three contractors are going to come through and you are out of money with investing in Kansas City area. And all of a sudden the realization of how you can sell this house is not what you thought it was just two months prior.
Lucas Scheele:
It’s a little bit more bleak.
Eric Sheele:
So how does that go from a lender standpoint when you get that phone call and saying, “I think I overstepped my boundaries here and what do I do?” Is that what they’re saying? What do I do? How can you help me? Save me? Get me out of this deal? How’s that go?
Rex Rodenbaugh:
Well, we don’t get into that situation a whole lot with our current borrowers.
Eric Sheele:
Good.
Rex Rodenbaugh:
Because we try to nip that in the bud in the beginning.
Eric Sheele:
Great point.
Rex Rodenbaugh:
Especially if they say, “I don’t care how much money I make on this deal.”
Eric Sheele:
Yeah, red flag.
Rex Rodenbaugh:
Sorry, we’re not funding this deal.
Eric Sheele:
No. And you make sure you make a really good point though, which it probably leads to your success because you care about the person. You don’t care about the deal. And I feel like we do that same thing on KC Property Guys. We care about the people. We try to treat people extremely equitably fair. And you’re doing the same thing, which is fantastic here because I get weekly phone calls from lenders from all over the nation and they just simply are eager to give money away, but they’re giving it away at just stupid rates, 25 28, cabbage, 42%. They’re backed by, yeah, SEO, internet investors and it’s a game that, as a would be investor looking for anything, they’re going to take it and now they’ve set their selves up poorly financially on the back end, and they still haven’t acquired a property yet, which on their impatience, they’re about to buy bad too. It’s like a double negative.
Lucas Scheele:
Yeah, double whammy.
Eric Sheele:
I mean, this thing is coming for them. It’s a train wreck. So make sure you avoid that through pre-consultation.
Rex Rodenbaugh:
Right, yeah. I mean, the most important thing is if somebody is coming to us for funding, we want their deal to be successful for them. And it is partially selfish because we don’t want them… We want them to have a good deal, so they see the deal through fruition.
Eric Sheele:
Yeah, and guess what? They’re going to do another one.
Multiple Deals
Rex Rodenbaugh:
So that’s another thing. We’re not in the business of taking back properties. That’s the last thing that we want to do. We just want to put money out there, own it and get our money back. We want people to succeed. We want to give them opportunities to do deals and do multiple deals at one time.
Eric Sheele:
Multiple deals.
Rex Rodenbaugh:
Once they’ve got one deal at a time down and then they can move to two and three and so on.
Eric Sheele:
Yeah? Okay, easy now.
Rex Rodenbaugh:
Yeah, the idea behind our business is just to create that opportunity and to help people be successful investing in Kansas City area.
Eric Sheele:
Well, consulting is great I’m really, really glad to hear that because ultimately, if you’re a one trick pony, that’s all you’re going to be is a one trick pony. The investor’s going to be a one trick pony, you don’t get a return investment. It’s actually risky investment on your side as well.
Rex Rodenbaugh:
Exactly.
Advice to People Starting Out
Eric Sheele:
So that’s great to hear. You ready for… Actually, before we do KC Three, any advice to people starting out the business? So you’ve kind of touched upon that in terms of the investor. From a lending perspective, if we have any lenders, you want to give away some competitive secrets or should we bypass that? We can get straight into KC Three. We have a quick three about Kansas City if you want to jump into that.
Rex Rodenbaugh:
Well, I don’t mind sharing information. Getting into the lending business?
Eric Sheele:
Yeah.
Rex Rodenbaugh:
Somebody that’s getting into the lending business…
Eric Sheele:
You just advised the investor, right, be patient. That’s what I hear. Be patient, be careful, I’m going to help consult you. This is what I’m hearing from you, right? To make sure that you buy right and that you come back and we can lend again. We can do this again, but from a lending perspective, right, anybody that’s, “Hey man, I’m in the fix and flip game, but I’d like to add some little Rex to me. Maybe I want to do a little bit of private lending. I’m starting to take that next step.” You got into fix and flip through lending, right? Some of these fix and flippers are like, “Man, the properties are getting hard to find. Maybe I should get into lending.” Any advice for those guys?
Rex Rodenbaugh:
Well actually, yeah, I got into lending from the fix and flip. I got frustrated with finding deals and I was like, I want to figure out a way…
Eric Sheele:
You are that guy. Okay, you are that guy.
Rex Rodenbaugh:
I want to figure out how I can join forces with people and I’ll make a little money on more deals versus trying to make a big lump of money on one.
Eric Sheele:
You got to have a common circle of other lenders that you know, obviously. And you probably have private lending customers that might want to try to do the private lending on themselves but actually are going into your expertise, right?
Rex Rodenbaugh:
Well, I mean, so if somebody is trying to get into the lending business, at least in my space where they’re wanting to lend on fix and flips and short term rehab loans, they really need to understand the ins and outs of every… So the borrower, they have to understand the borrower and what their experience is. They have to understand the vantage point of every single person involved in the deal. And they have to know… Gosh, there’s just so many things that they…
Lucas Scheele:
Need to do.
Rex Rodenbaugh:
… need to understand and they probably need to have their hands on experience.
Eric Sheele:
Fair enough. Knowledge is power and if you’re not knowledgeable, don’t get into the game.
Rex Rodenbaugh:
And that’s how I got started in fixing flips and slinging the hammer was because those first few projects that I did, I did pretty much all the work myself other than the licensed trades and stuff. But I said, “If I get in there and I’m swinging the hammer and I’m doing all the work, I’m starting to see what things are wrong with a house.”
Eric Sheele:
Yeah, you bet.
Rex Rodenbaugh:
And then also I’m able to understand what it costs to fix those things too.
Eric Sheele:
Right on.
Rex Rodenbaugh:
And I mean, just understanding that and understanding when I’m dealing with a lender, from a borrower standpoint, I know what frustrates me.
Eric Sheele:
You do have to know it inside out.
Rex Rodenbaugh:
I know what goes well and what doesn’t go well.
Eric Sheele:
Absolutely. And then that does project and I kind of look back to some of our dealings and absolutely that’s projected through. So knowing the ins and outs of that deal has helped you relate.
Lucas Scheele:
Doing your homework, definitely.
KC Quick Three
Eric Sheele:
Oh absolutely. Ready for some a KC quick three? We ask three questions, right, all about Kansas City. We’re KC Property Guys. We actually have KC Investor Funding, two KC’s, along with KC Pier.
Lucas Scheele:
KC proud in here.
Eric Sheele:
Right, we got it. So this fits perfect. So you a foodie?
Rex Rodenbaugh:
I am.
Lucas Scheele:
Nice, nice.
Eric Sheele:
Most people are. So we collect a lot of this information. And so, through or three, what’s your favorites? And don’t tell us the run of the mill. I like out Olive Garden, but we’re not hawking Olive Garden.
Rex Rodenbaugh:
Cheesecake Factory.
Eric Sheele:
No offense to Cheesecake Factory. No offense because I like Cheesecake Factory, but we want to know the nooks and crannies… You lend. I mean, you lend all over Kansas City. You and you visit these houses you lend to, yes?
Rex Rodenbaugh:
Yep.
Eric Sheele:
Okay. So this is good.
Lucas Scheele:
He’s got to be everywhere.
Eric Sheele:
He’s everywhere and you’re lending over lunch and you’ve got to find… You’re like, “Hey man, I got to try this place.”
Lucas Scheele:
Yeah.
Eric Sheele:
Yeah?
Rex Rodenbaugh:
Well, so if there’s any Mexican food anywhere, I’ll eat Mexican food anytime anywhere.
Eric Sheele:
Okay.
Lucas Scheele:
I’m the same way.
Eric Sheele:
Name number one.
Rex Rodenbaugh:
Oh gosh, a Mexican place.
Eric Sheele:
You called it.
Rex Rodenbaugh:
Man, where do I go? Because I go to all of them. I kid.
Eric Sheele:
Okay, okay.
Rex Rodenbaugh:
I mean, I’m a steak guy too.
Eric Sheele:
Is there a certain area? Kansas City, Kansas, is it better than the next or are they just all kind of good?
Rex Rodenbaugh:
It’s all good to me.
Eric Sheele:
Okay. Okay. Let’s get a name out of you. A restaurant, name one of them. It doesn’t even have to be Mexican. Any food, nook and cranny.
Rex Rodenbaugh:
I am also the steak fan so Anton’s is my favorite steak place.
Eric Sheele:
Anton’s?
Rex Rodenbaugh:
Yes.
Eric Sheele:
Where’s it at?
Rex Rodenbaugh:
It’s downtown on Main Street.
Eric Sheele:
Downtown on Main.
Lucas Scheele:
Anton’s?
Rex Rodenbaugh:
Yeah.
Eric Sheele:
The steak place?
Rex Rodenbaugh:
It is the steak place, yes.
Eric Sheele:
And T-bone?
Rex Rodenbaugh:
I’m a rib eye guy.
Eric Sheele:
Rib eye guy. Okay.
Lucas Scheele:
Nice. There we go.
Eric Sheele:
How’s it done?
Rex Rodenbaugh:
Medium.
Eric Sheele:
Medium. Excellent. Anton, rib eye, Medium, noted.
Rex Rodenbaugh:
Yes.
Eric Sheele:
Okay. Any others?
Rex Rodenbaugh:
Oh, that’s all that comes to mind right now.
Eric Sheele:
KC event, favorite event, Kansas City event throughout the whole year, you do something? Any one of them sticks out?
Rex Rodenbaugh:
Well, I’m hoping that Chiefs in the Super Bowl is an annual event.
Lucas Scheele:
That’s an up coming event and a [inaudible 00:29:41] coming up.
Eric Sheele:
I would take that, of course. We’re all bleeding red right now, absolutely.
Rex Rodenbaugh:
I would say restaurant week, but we failed to make it out on restaurant week this year.
Eric Sheele:
Restaurant week’s a thing? This is new to me.
Rex Rodenbaugh:
Yeah, it was actually last week.
Lucas Scheele:
Oh wow. We missed it too.
Eric Sheele:
We sure did. So what happens during restaurant week for all us uneducated?
Rex Rodenbaugh:
They have specials going on.
Eric Sheele:
All week?
Rex Rodenbaugh:
Discounts, yeah.
Lucas Scheele:
Oh, that’s crazy.
Eric Sheele:
As a foodie, I feel like I’m not doing us a service. Yeah, I’ve missed out on an opportunity. Wow, that’s fantastic. Restaurant week is every year…
Rex Rodenbaugh:
Around this time frame.
Eric Sheele:
Around this timeframe, middle of July?
Rex Rodenbaugh:
Yeah, mm-hmm (affirmative).
Eric Sheele:
Okay. Noted.
Lucas Scheele:
I shouldn’t take advantage of that.
Eric Sheele:
Oh, I’m sorry. January.
Rex Rodenbaugh:
Yeah, January.
Eric Sheele:
Wrong J.
Rex Rodenbaugh:
It’s awfully cold for July.
Eric Sheele:
We’re going to research that. We’re going to research a restaurant week week. We’ve got some links coming to you. Fantastic. So that’s absolutely…
Lucas Scheele:
I’ll be sure to drop them down for you.
Eric Sheele:
How do people get ahold of you? Anybody would be investors looking for some lending that want to talk to. Anybody that has a house that want you to take it from KC Property Guys and give it to old Rex? How do they contact you?
Rex Rodenbaugh:
I’m on Facebook. I’m on LinkedIn. I’ve got kcinvestorfunding.com, my website.
Eric Sheele:
Perfect.
Rex Rodenbaugh:
My phone number (816) 888-3692.
Eric Sheele:
There we go. Thanks. Thanks for coming in.
Rex Rodenbaugh:
Yeah, thanks for having me.
Eric Sheele:
Good, good chat. Always ready to talk shop.
Rex Rodenbaugh:
For sure.
Eric Sheele:
Fantastic. Love to have you back again.
Rex Rodenbaugh:
I will do it.
Eric Sheele:
Okay. Excellent. Thanks for joining us this week. Luke, you want to wind this down?
Lucas Scheele:
Yeah, absolutely. Thanks everybody for tuning in today and we’ll catch you on the next episode. You guys have a great day.
Eric Sheele:
Take care.
Speaker 1:
Thanks for joining us this week on the Kansas City Real Estate Industry Leaders Show. Please support all things local to Kansas City. And hey, be sure to subscribe and share our podcast on Facebook and LinkedIn. This has been a KC Property Guys production, kcpropertyguys.com.
