Jason Hartman brings us a FlashBack Friday episode with the most important takeaway being to just start. Start investing in real estate income properties now. If you’re already currently investing, add more to your portfolio. Time is short and limited and the longer you own the more you make. After he brings on guest Naresh to discuss a number of topics including- smoking and issues with financial media in the US.
Announcer 0:00
Welcome to this week’s edition of flashback Friday, your opportunity to get some good review by listening to episodes from the past that Jason is hand picked to help you today in the present, and propel you into the future. Enjoy.
Announcer 0:15
Welcome to the creating wealth show with Jason Hartman. You’re about to learn a new slant on investing some exciting techniques and fresh new approaches to the world’s most historically proven asset class that will enable you to create more wealth and freedom than you ever thought possible. Jason is a genuine self made multi millionaire who’s actually been there and done it. He’s a successful investor, lender, developer and entrepreneur who’s owned properties in 11 states had hundreds of tenants and been involved in thousands of real estate transactions. This program will help you follow in Jason’s footsteps on the road to your financial independence day. You really can do it. And now here’s your host Jason Hartman with the complete solution for real estate investors.
Jason Hartman 1:05
Welcome to the creating wealth show. This is your host Jason Hartman with episode number 773 773. Thank you so much for joining me today. And it is a new year so happy new year Felice on your new Weibo. And I don’t know how to say it in any other language. So that’s going to be the limit. I wanted to welcome to rush back to the show. He’s here to talk to me about a variety of issues as we kick off a new New Year. No rush welcome. How are you?
Naresh 1:36
Happy New Year Jason. It’s a pleasure to be back on I think like eight months was
Jason Hartman 1:40
a lot I was the last time we spoke. It absolutely blows my mind how fast time goes. And you know, that’s a tie in for real estate investors because many of you have seen these various infomercials and your email boxes filled with various offers, and get rich Quick schemes, and you know, time flies, it goes so amazingly fast. And to most people the passing of time and that’s not exactly a positive thing. You know, we get older our bodies don’t do what they used to do. We don’t look as good as we used to look, you know, kind of when you’re young, you feel like you’re bulletproof. And you have lots of opportunities. And what am I talking about in a rush? You’re still very young. I’m, I’m almost young. I thought you were you look 29 Well, a youth is wasted on the young as they say, right. You know, it’s just amazing how quick time goes. So it’s been eight months since you’ve been on the show. Now, these are by your calculations, not mine, but I’m I’m assuming you’ve got accurate information there. And you know, if you bought some properties from us eight months ago, it’s definitely gone up in value. I mean, I can’t think of really an exception. The market has been Going up for eight months. So, you know, you’ve gotten some some good returns on that investment probably by now. And it’s only been eight months. But it’s amazing eight years can fly so quickly. And the point is to get started to not worry about how slow the process is, and why can’t I have it all now? And why does an instant gratification work in real life? Why does it look as good as that cheesy real estate guy on the infomercial at 2am when you can’t sleep, you know, just get started, get your investment portfolio going. Everybody starts out the new year with all these new year’s resolutions. All the gyms and health clubs are filled to the brim, they’re super crowded in January. Talk to any of those people that work there and they’ll say, you know, by about the first second week of February, it starts to taper off. And then they’re just making a bunch of money off these recurring revenue memberships where you pay monthly but don’t really use it. So So that’s just human nature, folks. But let’s, you know, let’s make new year’s resolutions, let’s stick with them. Let’s increase the size of our investment portfolios, secure our financial future for many, many years to come, and maybe create generational wealth for generations to come for your offspring and for the future. You know, one of the great things I love about Denis waitley, Episode Number 150. And by the way, I’m going to invite Denis waitley back on the show he, he was such a great influence in my life, but he talks about this concept he says, plant a shade tree, under which you know, you will never sit plant a shade tree under which you know, you will never set in other words, leave a legacy and income property, the most historically proven asset class in the world can really help you do that. So it is an amazing thing. It’s an amazing time to be alive. And let’s make 2017 and amazing new year. So Happy New Year to everybody. Now nourish. We got a bunch of things to talk about first. I mean, you know, we got to talk about the benefits of smoking. Are you kidding me? Yeah. Yeah. I know that was an amazing thing I teased everybody with on the show last week on a prior episode. And listen, I don’t think there really are any real benefits to smoking. Overall, I think smoking is disgusting. It’s terrible. I hate the smell of it. I hate the taste of it. It’s just gross. But my point was on that episode last week, was the idea that it is a I believe this just my belief This is there’s no research that I know of on this. I’m not going to cite any academic paper from some professor that works 12 hours a week and gets overpaid and has tenure and can never be fired. who works at a left wing liberal brainwashing institution called the university that’s massively overpriced. But hey, that’s just my opinion. I could be wrong. So it’s just my humble opinion. That is is a sign of intelligence, if one can hold opposing thoughts in their mind at the same time and evaluate them separately as well as together, and that’s what we’re going to talk about when we talk about smoking and I think smoking is awful. But there are some benefits so you know, why don’t we just start with that and get it out of the way real quick? No rush. Do you smoke? Are you a smoker? I’m not a smoker I can count on one hand how many times I’ve smoked in my life yeah, so it’s me too. It’s like you It’s gross
Naresh 6:33
Yeah, the the smell gives me a headache the after effects you know even trying to get I didn’t get the the high or whatever. It is a relaxation that many people feel. So yeah, I’m not a smoker. I actually I can’t handle it. But one thing I can do, just like you is I can handle talking about the benefits of it, you know, so So,
Jason Hartman 6:54
here’s the funny thing I’ve realized about smoking, which I think is terrible if he you know, he Listen, my mom was a smoker when I was a kid. She got hypnotized for $75 and completely quit smoking and she was kind of a militant smoker. I mean, it was really, you know, she would just smoke like a chimney, you know, is an awful habit. It’s very addictive. So, listen, if you’re a smoker and you’re listening to this, I’m not picking on you, I don’t fault you for it. I just say that you’ve been victimized by these tobacco companies have a very serious and addictive substance. And listen, there are lots of addictions. We’ve talked about addictions on prior episodes when we do temp shows. We’ve talked about that where we go off topic and discuss something of general interest and we all have certain addictive behaviors. Nobody’s immune to it. I have them every I’m sure every human being has them. Whether one’s addicted to being right, or addicted to smoking or drugs and alcohol or gambling. I mean, look, I just moved to Las Vegas. Thankfully, I don’t gamble so and you know, my friend Steve He said an interesting thing. He’s probably listening to this podcast episode. Hey, Steve. He said a really interesting thing to me the other day, he said, and he lives in Las Vegas, too. He said, living in Las Vegas really develops your character. And I thought, Wow, that’s a counterintuitive way to look at it and see, I love it. When people look at things like that when they look at them in a really intelligent counter intuitive fashion. And that’s the way we look at investing and in many ways, and I thought, wow, that, you know, I mean, you live in sin city, and he says, Yeah, you’ve got to have a lot of character to live here because you can succumb to any one that the number of temptations 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year, you can get anything you want. Well, that’s an interesting way to look at it. You’re right about that. So, one of the funny things I’ve noticed is, you know, I I’m a bit of a workaholic, there’s an addictive behavior for you. I just I do love work. I Love business, I find it endlessly fascinating. I became what I would consider to be financially independent and financially free many years ago, yet I still work a lot, because I actually like it. Now, I don’t know, maybe if I had something else to do, I could replace one thing with the other. But, you know, sometimes I will just be in. I mean, when I used to work in an office, now I work at home, I’ll just be cooped up all day, because I’ll just be working and I’ll be inside. And I go outside, and I see someone smoking and I think oh, that’s awful. Get away from that. They’re just polluting the my air especially in the morning when you’ve got nice fresh air right and you know, just got some smoke or 100 feet away and you can smell it and it ruins it. And but I thought, you know, I used to have a guy, Ben, that worked for me several years ago when we had a big office. You know, we had a big giant office in Orange County, California. Like I don’t know, almost, I think 6000 square feet or something. Beautiful class, a office and bunch of employees there and all that good stuff. I had several different offices over the years and he would go out and smoke and I was really kind of annoyed by the loss of productivity, of course, where do I want him at his desk working. And he would be out smoking all the time. And I thought this guy gets more fresh air than I do, you know, and he probably sees more of the sky and more of natural beauty and more sunsets and sunrises, possibly than I do because he’s outside because because the smoking laws are so restrictive, you got to go outside to smoke. So you get some fresh air he might take a walk around the block, get some exercise, being a single person and having spent a somewhat probably too much time in bars and nightclubs going out and socializing and or even restaurants. You know, you see people outside smoking, and they’re more social because What a great opener to meet a new friend, hey, do you have a light? Do you have a cigarette? Can I bum a cigarette off you? You know, I’ve noticed this behavior. Whereas inside the bar nightclub, nobody’s talking to each other, even though that’s what they’re sensibly therefore to meet new people, right? But they’re, you know, mostly not doing that. And outside the smokers, they’re socializing. It’s just kind of interesting. There are some actual benefits. And the rush I sent you an article earlier, there are actually a few health benefits. I almost don’t even want to go over that because it sounds like we’re recommending this terrible habit that, you know, causes cancer and heart problems and all sorts of health problems and you know, makes you look 10 years older than you are pretty quickly and you know, it’s just not good, but any thoughts nourish?
Naresh 11:48
Well, first off the social benefit. You know, I remember when I was in school and college and graduate school, the smokers would all hang out together and when Actually at the beginning of school, when you don’t really know anybody, you have no friends, you’re trying to meet people. It’s like the smokers instantly became a click. And so going back to your social benefit, even now, like you said, if you go out even to, you know, like a holiday party, you see complete strangers outside. They don’t know each other. They might be spouses of someone at a company. And they just, you know, they start talking to each other and they know each other within a matter of 10 minutes. And I actually grew up thinking that smokers were cool.
Jason Hartman 12:38
Remember, you’re listening to flashback Friday. Our new episodes are published every Monday and Wednesday. Well, listen, hey, you know, the tobacco industry is sold a generations on that terrible idea that smoking is cool, and fortunately, it’s become at least in the US, especially uncool. It’s still, unfortunately pretty cool in Europe. And, you know, but I hear smoking is just declining around the world people are finally getting it but but you’re right in a rush, they had an instant club. They had an instant club of friends, right and the instant social circle because they’re smokers, you know, right.
Naresh 13:18
Yeah. And I even know,
Jason Hartman 13:20
it’s not fair.
Naresh 13:22
And and I even know some women who, you know, friends of mine who still told me, You know, I can only end up with a smoker like I can’t marry a non smoker, I have to end up with a guy who smokes that, you know, I guess some, I guess some people are just into that. I haven’t heard that from guys so much, but I’ve heard that from someone. And that’s, that. That’s interesting. Yeah,
Jason Hartman 13:44
you know, I tell you, one of the worst things is, you’ll you’ll see a good looking woman and you’ll be attracted to her and then you know, she’ll pick up her hand and put a cigarette to her mouth and run the other way. But not for smokers, they’ve got a broader market. This just sounds so crazy to be talking about this. But But listen, let’s not dwell on it because we got a lot of other stuff to cover, like real estate investing. But, but, you know, look, folks, I’m just trying to point out the idea that be able to think critically, and hold opposing thoughts in one’s mind at the same time. That’s really the point I’m making, and especially on social media, I see this and it is so frustrating, and I would criticize your generation for this a lot interaction, you know, it’s probably not your fault in your generation, because you’ve been brought up in these brainwashing institutions, the public school system and, and the university system that has just, you know, has it has a real agenda, there’s no question about it. And just the lack of critical thinking that I see in places like Facebook is mind boggling. It is the mind. I mean, do you agree with that?
Naresh 15:04
Oh, absolutely. And I’m sure everybody listening to this podcast, it’s I wouldn’t even say it’s my generation really the recent election brought out the worst of, of critical thinking. And in my opinion, yeah,
Jason Hartman 15:18
yeah, the complete lack of critical thinking skills among so many, especially Americans, I would say Europeans are probably a lot better at this And in a way, because, you know, they’re, they’re just more I don’t know, when you got so many countries right next to each other like that you’re just a little more cultural and a little more aware and more into current events because they really do impact you when you’re an American, you know, just kind of kick back and, you know, go to the Britney Spears concert and enjoy your life. It’s pretty easy. You know, whatever, watch the Kardashians. But But yeah, you know, we’ve been really dumbed down in this country. Unfortunately, and No present company is excluded from that. And I mean, all of you listeners, because you’re obviously intelligent people because you’re listening to this podcast. So, but yeah, I mean, it’s just amazing what people take as the gospel, the media sells it. And everybody just believes it. I mean, you watch, you watch some of the news media and it is just mind boggling. The way they just never present the other side of the issue. The way they just bamboozle people like, I can watch the news and just, they have a million questions and poke a million holes in everything they say. And I think a lot of people just don’t do that. And that’s the problem with investing too. Because look at Wall Street. I mean, the vast majority of people in the world that you don’t want to emulate by the way listeners, you want to be different from them, but the vast majority of people in the world will just walk in to some financial advisor, they’ll turn over their retirement plan, they’ll turn over their savings. And they’ll put them in a bunch of massively overpriced mutual funds, Bond investments, terrible, I mean, mediocre to absolute crap Wall Street type investments. And they’ll just, they’ll just work so hard and just lose, lose their fortune or get very mediocre returns, which, when you look at that, in comparison to the opportunity cost of what they could have gotten of what they could have achieved. They’re losing a fortune. I mean, they really are. It’s really just appalling. It really is. Any thoughts on the investing world and how it relates to that the lack of critical thinking skills?
Naresh 17:48
Yeah, well, one of the problems with the financial media is the people covering you know, economic news, financial news and personal finance in general. Yeah, these are people Who, you know want to they were liberal arts major, you know, like English majors or even journalism majors and they have no idea no understanding of how a business is run or how an economy works or really, they just interview a few sources and get a few quotes and then put together a story. They have no idea what they’re talking about. And that’s why these people you know, they’re not the ones buying up real estate. They’re not the ones running hedge funds or private equity firms. They’re just writing words on now you know, on the internet and hoping to get eyeballs and and then right you know, it’s its clickbait
Jason Hartman 18:45
media is what most of the media has become, unfortunately, right.
Naresh 18:48
So if you look at it’s really even if you look at CNBC, at the anchors there, or Fox Business which are supposed to be you know, Business Network, works
Jason Hartman 19:01
better than the general news media but not much. I mean, most of them just aren’t very bright. They’re just parroting back there. They lack critical thinking skills. Most of them are just parroting back and they have to do it because if they get a comment from some CEO of a publicly traded company promoting his his or her stock, they have to parroted back and they usually want to be friendly with them. So they’ll get the next scoop and the next interview. It’s they’ve sold out. Really? I mean, haven’t I? Yeah, it’s, if you if you recall, in the election, for example, a lot of these anchors, were talking about how Donald Trump and even romney win in 2012. how they’ve filed for bankruptcy, not them personally, but their businesses have filed for bankruptcy. And what a lot of these people don’t understand is the difference between chapter seven and chapter 11 bankruptcy and what bankruptcy actually mean dissolution, right? where you’re actually means going bankrupt doesn’t mean that you personally lose all your money and everyone loses their job and, you know, all hell breaks loose. Oh, not at all. I mean, listen, I’ve never filed bankruptcy. I’ve been tempted, one one time. But I but I wouldn’t be able to qualify for it, unfortunately, in a way, because it’s, you know, a lot of these people and I listen, I’m not endorsing this, like I’m not endorsing smoking either. But a lot of these people, it’s a business plan. It really is a business plan. I mean, there are there’s a famous real estate guru who basically goes bankrupt every seven years, you know, approximately, and this well known person who will remain nameless, and I’m not sure it’s every seven years, but I just know this person’s had several bankruptcies, and it’s a real estate guru who’s out there teaching people how to invest in real estate. And I’m not saying that’s terrible, but, you know, I’m just pointing out that It’s it’s like listen, run up a lot of debt, and then you know, don’t have to pay it. Right. That’s, that’s bankruptcy. Now that’s a lot different than the world of short sales, loan modifications or intentional foreclosures, where that contract says, either pay the mortgage or return the property to us return the collateral. That’s what the contract says, in bankruptcy, there’s no such contract bankruptcy is is dramatically more questionable from an ethical point of view. Because in bankruptcy, you just run up a lot of debt and don’t pay it or, you know, it gets settled out for pennies on the dollar by a bankruptcy trustee. And so, yeah,
Naresh 21:43
yes, but of course, you know, our reporters on on CNBC and the anchors, I mean, I just remember them going after Romney and Trump,
Jason Hartman 21:53
about their bankruptcies. And, you know, in romney’s case, he he ran a private, one of the largest private equity companies In the world, of course, if you have a portfolio that big, there are companies that are going to go bankrupt, especially if you’re buying them in distress. And you know, he was lynched because of, you know, KB toys and a few other companies that went bankrupt and was never applauded for the companies that did really well on that day, create value for employees, for shareholders, etc. But of course, the media, if you have one bankruptcy, the media will will Lynch you. And that’s what they tried to do with Trump. That’s what they tried to do with Romney. And they’re just they’re never going to get it because again, the training of these journalists is they learn how to write, they learn how to tell a good story, but they don’t know the fundamentals of the issues. So a lot of times they don’t there’s no question about that, you know, you reminded me and we gotta jump to some other issues here. So let’s get off this one. But let me just wrap up this issue with that wonderful quote, The Man in the arena, and it’s just, you know, it’s just awesome. Everybody’s probably heard this at one time or another, but it is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man. And of course that is gender neutral. It’s just, I’m just reading what it says okay? The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood who strives valiantly, who airs who comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error, and shortcoming. But who does actually strive to do the deeds, who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself in a worthy cause? Who at best knows in the end, the triumph of high achievement, who at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls, who know who neither know neither victory nor defeat. I mean, that’s just, that’s just brilliant, right? It’s an excerpt from the speech called the citizen in a republic. And that was delivered in Paris, France in 1910. And I think a lot of people tribute that I think like Theodore Roosevelt or something, a lot of quotes out there were mis attributed, obviously, throughout history, but I think I’ve seen that attributed to him before, but maybe he popularized it. I don’t know. But he did say something cool. Speak softly and carry a big stick and you will go far. So that’s a good one too. I like it. Alright, so you got some questions about tax liens or, you know, a good, let’s do a quick, quick comments on tax. And then quick comments on Cuba. And let’s wrap it up. You just got back from Cuba. So what about tax liens?
Naresh 25:06
Yeah. So I, you know, I went to one of these motivational seminar type of events A few weeks ago and one guy stood up and started talking about real estate tax liens and deeds. He didn’t talk about what they are or how he made money off at all he did. He stood up, he said, I made so much money off these it changed my life. And he wanted people to sign up for his course so that they could learn how to make money off this Sue. So I wrote it down because you and I have never talked about real estate tax liens and deeds. You might have touched on it once or twice on your show before,
Jason Hartman 25:39
but oh, no, I’ve touched on it on detail. You just happen to miss. In fact, I got sued over one of those episodes. So we’ve never had a client sue us ever. Never. No plan has ever sued us. But and that’s, you know, out of thousands of clients, you know, who sues me is the crooks that I out on my podcast. That’s who sues me. It’s funny, they don’t like it. You know, light is the best disinfectant. And they don’t like it when you shine light on their little, you know, sleazy activities. So that’s what it is you for, for for a nation of character. Yeah. So Episode Number 417 is a tax lien company I invested with, you know, going through this lawsuit and the depositions, you can just tell if we don’t win, like gloriously I will be amazed because they’re just the guy is just lying. I mean, Well, look, that’s my opinion that he’s lying like crazy. But, you know, that’s that’s what people do in court, right? They just lie a lot. So, you know, it’s mind boggling. Anyway, so let me just address in all seriousness the subject of tax liens and tax deeds. I originally heard about this idea back in the mid 90s. And I had not heard about it before, even though people were doing it before you know what, actually I take that back. I did hear about it. Be I didn’t understand it at all. I actually heard about it before the mid 90s. And, and I got really interested in it. So in about 2004, one of our clients said that he was investing in some tax liens and tax deeds, and recommended this company to me, and unfortunately, this company, I believe, screwed me and stole a bunch of my money. And, you know, I’ve got some pretty good proof of that, but the case has yet to be litigated. It’s in litigation now. So I gotta be careful what I say. So in either case, what this concept is, is that you you have a property, someone has a property, and if they don’t, this is not about the mortgage. It’s only about the tax bill if they don’t pay their property taxes. The municipality that collects those taxes, the county usually will in some German dictions be able to sell the rights for another investor to collect those revenues or get the collateral, just like I was talking about mortgages a few minutes ago, you know, with all these millions of people that did what’s called strategic defaults during the Great Recession and some people defaulting on their properties, they gave the property back. And they in order to satisfy the mortgage lender, well, with a tax lien, it’s a little bit different because basically what happens is the county needs the money, right? All these all these counties are, you know, in dire need of money, pretty much right. So they will take and they’ll have an auction, and they will say, the person at 123 Elm Street didn’t pay their taxes. So we are willing to sell the rights for a an outside investor to collect the taxes owed on this property.
Jason Hartman 29:00
That investor can buy these for a very low price. So say for example, the person owes $1,000 in property taxes that they haven’t paid, someone might come along and buy the lien. The thousand dollar lien on that property, the tax lien or tax deed that they’re called both names depending on where you’re located for $200, for example, for 20% of the value, and then they’ll have the right to earn interest rate on those taxes if the person ends up paying because they got to pay a bunch of late fees and interest charges. Right. And that will go to the investor not the county because the county sold its rights to collect them at tax lien. But what if they don’t pay? What if they don’t redeem the tax lien if they don’t pay it? Right? Well, then the investor gets the right to foreclose on the property. And this is why you hear people on those late night infomercials at 2am promising the world and not delivering Most of the time, I’m saying I bought this $80,000 house for $200 because that’s exactly what happened. Okay? They never redeemed the tax lien. Now you have to go through a very long, slow, arduous process. And it’s very technical and legal to properly foreclose on the property mount. No, most of them will redeem and pay their taxes, obviously, because I don’t want to lose the property. But if you go ahead and do all that and spend the money to foreclose on the property, you could take the property back and end up owning it in that case for 200 bucks, plus a bunch of legal fees and a bunch of your time, and, you know, so on and so forth. But the problem is, this, like so many other marketplaces, in the country and in the world in general, has, you know, the cats out of the bag. The secret is out. People know this, you know, it’s been positive popularised every it seems like everything has been popularized nowadays, right? Everybody has heard of every way of making money, you know, and, and you go to those auctions, and there’s a whole bunch of people bidding for those liens, or deeds, which cause the prices to go up. And then also, the chances of you actually getting one of them, and actually having the person not redeem and being successful in foreclosure. Of course, the odds go down dramatically as you go through that funnel. But occasionally, and there are stories and I actually know a guy who bought a big piece of vacant land. Oh, and by the way, that’s the other thing you should know about this. A lot of these aren’t very prime properties. A lot of them are vacant land that’s out in the middle of nowhere that nobody wants or cares about. Very rarely are they nice quality, single family homes and good neighborhoods with good schools and,
Jason Hartman 31:55
and so on and so forth. The properties are just all over the board. Mostly the things that nobody wants a lot of the tax liens go unsold, where they’ll have the auction and nobody buys them. And then if people buy them, a lot of times, they don’t end up collecting and they don’t redeem. And a lot of times it’s not even worth foreclosing on the property. So there’s more to it than meets the eye to you know, you go to one of those seminars and they’re just designed to take your money and get you to buy their coaching program for $20,000 or their $2,000 set of, you know, audios and videos and and books and you know, that’s just the way the world is right so you know, buyer beware caveat emptor is the the word of the day just beware, yeah, you know, a fool and his money are soon parted. But is it possible to make money? Sure, it’s possible. Is it possible to make money buying houses way below market value? Sure. It’s possible. How often does it have Well, it’s really, really rare. And nobody has any actual statistics on this kind of stuff. That’s the problem. So the the stories you hear if they’re real from the testimonials of people who’ve supposedly done it, are the one in a million story. And they’re trotted out there. Like it’s commonplace, and it’s not commonplace in anything. It doesn’t matter what it is. It could be, you know, the, the I made a zillion dollars in internet marketing selling widgets online. It could be the, you know, I met a million girls because I, you know, practice this pickup technique. Okay. It could be the I bought tax liens and tax deeds at the auction. It could be the you know, the whatever. It’s always a moonshot, okay. That’s just the way life is with these tax liens and tax deeds. How do you go about vetting deals, finding deals other online marketplaces or do you just have to go through there, there are a bunch of things what I do Is I hired an agent, basically an agency to help me by them because they knew what they were doing and I didn’t know what I was doing. And I feel like I got burned. I think they ripped me off. In fact, one of the things they did that came out in the deposition, is they actually retitled and this is all Episode 417, by the way, okay. They actually retitled a property in their name. I paid them $17,500 to foreclose on a bunch of properties. They told me I should foreclose on. I didn’t get a single one of them back. And in fact, one of them they admitted in the deposition to taking it like literally they stole a house for me. It’s, it’s mind boggling. So yes, you your idol gets ripped off, okay? Occasionally, and I talked about it on the show, and, you know, I get sued for it. So that’s what happens but you Wow, that’s a long story. You can hear an episode for 17. And you can hear one of their other clients that got burned and I’ve had a bunch of other people come forward to just a reminder, you’re listening to flashback Friday. Our new episodes are published every Monday and every Wednesday.
Jason Hartman 35:20
Okay, hey, we got to wrap up. Is that kind of, you know, fill people in on the tax lien thing. I want to just get a couple comments on your Cuba trip.
Naresh 35:28
Yeah, yeah, that that fills most things. And we could talk about Cuba for a while. But yeah, we
Jason Hartman 35:33
could, but let’s get because this is a real estate investing podcast or financial freedom podcast. And okay, so so Cuba, I was there maybe 12 years ago, and it’s fascinating. I have this morbid fascination with the disaster known as communism. And I don’t know why I just think it’s interesting, you know, to see how people could live in 1959 since they have not invented a machine to travel through time. The closest you can get is to just go to a communist country that hasn’t progressed in any way since it became communist. So Fidel Castro the late thankfully, I’m gonna say it, the late Fidel Castro, who took over in the revolution of 1959 in Cuba. Okay, that country became this time just stopped, time stopped. And you know, it amazed me no rush. I’m certain amaze you to now it is slowly changing. When I went there with young entrepreneurs organization, we got special permission from the State Department and we chartered a commercial jet there were, I don’t know, 120 of us maybe out of Miami. That was kind of fun, because, you know, we were like throwing pillows at the flight attendants and stuff. You couldn’t do that without getting arrested on a real plane. Okay, but, but we had our own jet, so it was kind of fun. We were having a good time. And, and they flew us to Cuba and we spent, I don’t know almost a week there and you It’s time stopped in 1959. You see all these classic old American cars there that are held together with duct tape and bubble gum. And, you know, Michael Moore said he thinks that health care is better in Cuba than in the US What an idiot Michael Moore is, oh my god, seriously. But you know what, what was your experience like you just got back a few days ago.
Naresh 37:21
You have just got back a few days ago. And you know, last time I was on your podcast, I talked about India, because I had just gotten back from India. And there’s a lot of similarities between India and Cuba when it comes to like infrastructure or the lack of infrastructure, the way people live. The family culture, they’re very similar. But India’s way ahead when it comes to technology, of course, jobs in Cuba. It’s a communist country is not a communist country,
Jason Hartman 37:55
and you happen to be Indian boy, we should disclose that.
Naresh 38:00
Cuba. So you brought up the health care for example, I have no idea why the quality of care is like in Cuba.
Jason Hartman 38:08
Doctors make like $15 a month.
Naresh 38:11
You hear the media saying that the quality of care is amazing. And that’s why Fidel got to live so long and the mortality rates are much lower in Cuba than they are in the United States. I will say people do seem to eat that you just can’t find much junk food there. You can’t
Jason Hartman 38:28
go to a store. Yeah, that’s one problem with capitalism. You know, it’s and it’s not really capital, capitalism. It’s crony capitalism, which was what we have in the United States. Unfortunately, these you know, big disgusting food companies have taken over the country and they fill our food with antibiotics and, and pesticides and hormones and it’s killing us. Obviously, you know, that listen to my longevity show for more on that or my holistic survival show where you learn a lot more about that stuff. It’s, you know, Monsanto, the crony capitalist company. That’s just a You know, poisoning our food supply.
Naresh 39:02
Yeah. And and going back to health care what you said, Yes, the doctors don’t get paid that much but at the same time, because it is a you know, I guess a universal type of system, the medical system is honest. Whereas here in the United States, you have big pharma there you have the FDA, and there you have insurance companies in there. And you hear all the time about dishonest CEOs of hospitals, dishonest doctors,
Jason Hartman 39:33
oh, the pharmaceutical companies are just disgusting. I mean, you know, they’re, they’re doing the same thing that you know, Monsanto type companies are doing in the food world. It’s, it’s unbelievable. I mean, just folks, if at all possible, just try to avoid pharmaceutical drugs as much as you possibly can. You know, that’s my advice. I mean, I just I don’t want to take any of those things. You know that I mean, granted, I sure I will someday need some drug but I just want to avoid them because The side effects are just mind boggling how dangerous those drugs are.
Naresh 40:04
Yeah. And I actually went into a pharmacy just just for fun, just, I didn’t want to buy anything. I just went in to talk to the pharmacists and see how much medicine you can do in Cuba, and none of them speak English. So there was a language barrier. And these are trained pharmacists. And I started, you know, just naming some medications off the top of my head. And they’re selling these medications without prescription here in the United States who need prescriptions, but they’re selling them there for I mean, quarters, not even dollars, but quarter,
Jason Hartman 40:41
but relative to the typical huge Cuban income of its time I was there was like, $10 a month. I’m sure it’s higher now. but not much. I mean, you know, that’s, yeah,
Naresh 40:51
yeah. Well,
Jason Hartman 40:53
I don’t know if that’s affordable at all.
Naresh 40:54
Yeah, it was all for us. It certainly is for them and I read a lot different Statistics. One of those statistics was $125 a month. That’s the the average. For some people, I said it’s a little more than 100 a week. I don’t think that’s
Jason Hartman 41:13
the most lucrative business in Cuba is prostitution. That’s very lucrative. The oldest profession, you know, and there, there’s a lot of that going on there. But, but yeah, you know, that all all depends on inflation and the prices of everything else, obviously, and so forth. So, you know, we just don’t really have a good reference point for that, unfortunately. But, but you know, what, what else did you think of it? I mean, like, what did you do agree with me that it was like going back to 1959. It was like a time warp was like going in a time machine. I mean, when I was,
Naresh 41:45
yeah, there’s very little internet, you have to buy this internet card for $10. And it goes super slow. It’s hard to get.
Jason Hartman 41:52
So they didn’t have any internet. Yeah,
Naresh 41:54
when you were there, there was probably nothing. So people don’t use smartphones like we use here. You know, I had to go back to using a map my Airbnb, they have Airbnb there. So I was staying in an Airbnb and my host that’s in front of my and I, I think the way they run it there is these hosts and Cuba. They have people here in the United States, like family members who run their accounts, and who just managed a little Airbnb process. So my host gave me a map, which came in extremely handy because there’s no GPS, there’s no Apple Maps or waves or anything. And the taxi drivers, I was finding places on the internet and I was telling taxi drivers, you know, take me to Wooster Landy and they’re like, I’ve never even heard of that. And so I would have to show them on the map. You know, here’s the address, and it should be in this location. So you find out more about Cuba on the internet here in the United States and the locals even though over there,
Jason Hartman 42:53
that that’s quite fascinating. It really is. Yeah, but but here’s the thing. You know, this is one of the things I think Obama did. That I agree with. There weren’t many things I agree with that Obama did. But there were a few. Um, you know, that old credit card bill from the beginning of his presidency, I thought was pretty good. Or, you know, I thought that credit card companies are just ripping people off. So I’m glad that he made some rules about that. And I’m glad that he lessen the tension with Cuba. And I just hope it opens up because I believe the best way to convert a country is not to not to be their enemy, not to be at war with them. It’s to have a bunch of rich Westerners living the good life traveling there. And just giving an example of how much more there is to the world, then then the locals have, and then the locals will rise up and change their own government. And that will it may be a slow process, but it always happens eventually. And and so you know, that that’s what I think should happen. So lessening the travel restrictions to Cuba. And by the way, I should mention that the venture Alliance is seriously considering a trip to Cuba. For my venture Alliance mastermind group, you can find out more at venture Alliance mastermind calm, and we are seriously considering a Cuba trip. So we’ve been to Dubai and that’s our been our only international trip so far. But, but we’re considering Cuba. So if you want to go to Cuba, maybe you can go with us join the venture Alliance.
Naresh 44:22
Yeah. Well, you brought up Michael Moore. And just the last point I have about Cuba, people like Michael Moore, and even that San Francisco 40 Niners quarterback refused to stand for the national anthem, and he wore a Fidel Castro shirt. They almost brag about Cuba and Castro saying their people are so literate,
Jason Hartman 44:44
and none of these hypocrites actually moved. Well that is true actually. None of these hypocrite leftist you know why don’t they just move if they like it better there, there’s nothing stopping them. I’m, I’m sure. Raphael is a Raphael Castro and mugga you know, rather than Castro Yeah. Thank you. For those brother. I’m sure he would be glad to have Michael Moore and you know, any professional athlete that would be just a big feather in their cap to see Cuba recruit them so why don’t they go?
Naresh 45:15
Yeah, these guys I don’t know if Michael Moore has been there but I know the 40 Niners quarterback has never been there. And
Jason Hartman 45:23
I even
Naresh 45:24
course, I live in I live in Tampa and the reason why I went to Cuba was because I went to an investing seminar on investment opportunities in Cuba, which there are none By the way, but it was an interesting seminar. And that’s what got me interested in going. And one of the points that people kept talking about is that people there are so smart, they’re so literate, 97% literacy rate. And after coming back here, it’s the most literate country in the Caribbean from what I understand, but you know, that’s not saying much, but Okay, go ahead. That’s what I was gonna say that Definition of literacy varies from country to country. So here in the United States, if you’re not, let’s say, at a third grade leading reading level, by the time you reach adulthood, you could be considered illiterate or maybe first grade. In Cuba, I think those standards are set much lower. And I say that because the people there, there’s 20th century literacy, in my opinion, and there’s 21st century literacy. If you’re not able to write distinction, by the way, yeah, if you’re not able to write by using a computer or text message, or, you know, kind of digitally, if you’re not able to write, then in my opinion, you’re not 21st century literate, and the people in Cuba, they can’t The only people who could speak English and I don’t speak Spanish, so I struggled a bit, but it’s like the only people who could who I could speak English to where the waiters and the Hotel, you know, managers outside of that. People couldn’t even speak a word of English, maybe maybe two or three words here and there and maybe some bad words, but that’s about it. And they couldn’t speak French or Arabic or Mandarin or any of the other major languages that this world has. It couldn’t speak that either. So peep, these pro Cuba, people go around saying all they have such a great quality of care, they people are so literate there, and I couldn’t communicate with a majority of them.
Jason Hartman 47:33
And the I mean, in all fairness, though, do you speak Spanish? I don’t speak Spanish. Yeah. Okay. But so, I mean, in fairness to them, what I don’t get what you’re saying.
Naresh 47:44
So the point I’m making is, if you were to go to let’s say, India, for example, and you you talk to the most educated people in India, and if you talk to the most educated people on Cuba, you will notice that the most educated people India it’s almost like English and it’s not just India it’s and really many other countries out there. If you’re very educated, they almost see English as a world reserve language. You know, of course the dollar is a world. It is easy, right? That’s a good comparison.
Naresh 48:14
I like it.
Naresh 48:14
But the English it’s a world reserve language. And in Cuba, these people who are supposedly the smartest in their class, you know, right end up becoming waiters or working at restaurants and that’s what you get in a communist nation.
Jason Hartman 48:30
Yeah, you when you when you have central planning, you have a total misalignment of talents and capital and it’s just a mess. It’s a disaster. And we could talk about that for another three hours easily, but we won’t. Hayden rational we got to wrap it up. This is some interesting insights on on Cuba. And, you know, when we have you back on the show, maybe we’ll go into that a little bit more. I just want to remind everybody to go to Jason Hartman calm and join us get your tickets for our meet the masters of income property event. It’s only once a year. It’s coming up in January. And it is the day after the inauguration of our new president. So we’re gonna have a lot to talk about there. And some interesting insights, love them, hate them, whatever. It’s going to be interesting nonetheless. And there’s a lot of investment issues that you need to think about. We’re going to talk about trumping nomics, fetta nomics, you’re just gonna find this to be, I think, a very interesting meet the Masters event, we’ve got lots of local market specialists coming out, bringing their teams with them, to present properties to you to talk about their management techniques and a bunch of different stuff. So it’s going to be a good event and a rash. Thank you so much for joining us today. And I want to wish all our listeners a very Happy New Year. We’re here to help you in the new year, to secure your financial future to increase your financial wealth, and to just enjoy your life. Do more, have more and be more and we are glad we could be your partner in that So check out Jason hartman.com click on the events section join us for meet the Masters nourish. Thanks again for joining us.
Naresh 50:08
Thanks, Jason. It was great.
Jason Hartman 50:10
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