From Nakatomi Plaza to Bedford Falls: 12 Real Estate Lessons | Ep 53

Welcome to the Furlo Capital Real Estate Podcast, where we dive into the intricacies of Christmas. I mean, real estate investing, where gosh, I totally threw myself off here. Real estate investing. And our mission is to equip people to invest wisely in both Christmas properties and people so that together we can build wealth and celebrate the joy of Christmas and improve housing together.

I'm James and this is my wife, Jessi. Merry Christmas. Yeah. Yeah. So excited. We made it. Yes. Funny story this year, while we were picking out our tree, it got dark. So we didn't really, I mean, I guess we saw our tree. We had cut it down already, but it's good. Like I like our tree. It's a little shaggy, shaggier than normal.

Yeah. They so they had some on the lot and then they had on a field and we surveyed the ones that were like already cut and we were like, none, not for us. We're those types of people. So we went out into the field. And yeah, so we found that one that had, we found one that had not actually been, like, shaped.

Yeah, like, fully aged. I mean, it had that good, it had Christmas tree vibe. It has vibes, yeah. We're trying a new spot which, you know, we'll see. New spot, yeah. We'll see. It's good so far. Yeah, so far, I've liked it. It's, it's just a different. I also love that. Our dog is super old this year. I had to carry him part of the way, which was like, okay, we'd, I don't even think we walked like a quarter mile.

Oh, no. Like, not even. No. To walk around and see everything. It was a block. Which he was, he got cold and was shaky, and I was like, I got you, buddy. I don't blame him. Just like, you know. You know, what really, what he really wanted to do was he wanted to go inside. He did. And just warm up. Snuggle on the couch.

And watch some Christmas movies. There you go. That's what he wanted. So, hopefully this year, you have, by this point, since we are talking Christmas Day, totally got your fill of Christmas movies and Christmas music and all that stuff, so we got one more for ya. And what I want to do is I want to reflect.

12 real estate lessons that you can glean from Christmas movies. I love this. So next year when I pull out all those Christmas movies again, I'm going to be thinking about real estate. Yes, yes, that's the hope here. Alright, so I think I finish really well. I think you're going to like the way this is good.

I'm already like running through the Christmas movies in my head. I'm like, you have to have Home Alone. Yeah, that's actually my first one, so let's dive in. So, actually, okay, let's see, how do I want to do this? You want to guess on what you think the lesson is? And I'll go, oh, that's such a better idea than mine.

Oh, so you're going to tell me the movie and then I'll tell you the lesson? Yeah, so the first one, Home Alone, what's the lesson? Make a plan. That's a good one. I mean. Mine was around home security. The importance of it. Yes. Yes. Home security. Oh, that's fantastic. You never know when the wet bandits are going to be around.

Exactly. So maybe I recommend installing some, I don't know, motion activated lights. You could hire Kevin as your personal security consultant. Just don't ask them to, to rig paint cans to staircases. That's a liability nightmare. But I mean, it was highly effective, but yeah, just that idea of, yeah, like properties, especially vacant ones, it's important to make sure that they're secure and that you're regularly checking on them because man, you never know what shenanigans could go down.

Okay. This is an interesting question. I have no idea how you're going to answer it. What are your thoughts on like security cameras? You know, it's like security cameras that don't necessarily contact authorities. It's just like taking a picture of what's happening. Does, do you think it actually works to deter people from messing with stuff?

No, but when people do mess with it, you know, then you have a record. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I don't know. So like for our storage facility, we've got cameras and I have signs that say, Hey, I'm like, you're, you're on camera. Smile. Yeah. So I don't, you know, I don't know if it, interesting. I don't know if it's, I've used them a couple of times.

It's like, we're actually like, Yeah, to track things down. We had, yeah crazy story. We had a neighbor who their fence caught on fire. They blamed us, called the cops. And so I went back to the tape and I watched it all. Well, it turned out that his, his neighbor, Significant other who was there had taken the coals from the barbecue and tossed them up against the fence, which then caught the fence on fire and yeah, so it wasn't my fault.

It was sad. And I was like, you're like, here you go, cops had another one of the cops actually called me and said, Hey, we just arrested a guy outside your place. We're wondering if you had a film like where he came from. Cause I apparently. Well, what happens is, this guy had stolen a car up in Portland, driven it all the way down there, left the car on the street, and then ran out of the car into the storage facility.

And so when the cops showed up, he was like, Oh, that's not my car, I don't know what you're talking about. Interesting. And so then, we used the tape to figure out, like, if he had actually driven it. And it turns out, I have a view of the street. So, yeah. There you go. Home security, man. Home security. Boom. Yes.

It's important, especially if you're home alone. All right, number two. It's a wonderful life. The movie I love to hate. Which we can do some other time, like savings and loan is like the whole business and premise of this movie. So it's like find good partners to work with maybe, or like bad one. You know, don't put all your eggs in one basket, maybe?

Mine, I went the touchy feely route. I said real estate is about community impact. Oh, it is! I mean, that's like a core piece of the movie is then like, families get a loan and they're able to get into a home and like, they give them the bread and wine and like, it's so sweet. I don't know why you don't like that movie.

It's so good. And I look at it as like, it ties to our mission, right? Of improving housing while building wealth. Like that's definitely, he's trying to. Yeah. Well, I mean, that is a core lesson of, that we learned very early on in real estate was that real estate isn't just a business, like you're providing homes for people.

And we, you know, we had that experience where we, we heard the tenants kind of playing in their backyard and it was like, Oh, This is their home. This is their space. Like their space where they can be safe and live and do things. And so it was like, this is more than just us getting a rental and filling it.

When we actually formed our company originally, it was furlough family homes. Yeah. Was the name of it before switching it over to this more raising funds. Which it's a different, it's a different goal. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But yeah, no, I a hundred percent agree. Yeah. So that's, I think that's one of the takeaways that you can have from it's wonderful life that is.

Yeah man, it's not just about the dollars and cents, but Fun fact about A Wonderful Life, it's one of the first movies where the bad guy didn't get what came to him. And it actually bothered people. Really? Yeah, think about it. Mr. Potter was like the bad guy? Yeah, he got away with stealing the money.

Never got caught. Never had to yeah. Why would anybody love a movie like that? I don't know, I never really thought about it. You're welcome. I was distracted by the main lesson of like, you're a valuable human being. Of giving up your dreams? No! Oh, no, not that. Sorry. Whatever. Wow, Scrooge. It's just It's alright.

The Grinch. It's okay. Alright, number three. Is that on your list? Number three, it is. It's coming up. Number three. A Christmas story. Okay, I get these confused all the time. A Christmas story is the one where the kid is like, Fudge. Yeah. And they've got The French. The bunny. The lamp. Yeah. Okay. This tongue.

The Oh yeah, the frozen tongue. The baby What is it? The Red Rider BB gun? Shoot dry out, kid. Yeah, that's the one. That's the one. Okay. Real estate lessons? Yeah! Take risks? Ooh. Oh, yeah. I mean that would be good. That would be so good. You got him at like, that would be good. That'd be a good one. No it was just simply that nostalgia can sell.

Which is very true in a lot of areas. Static. Okay, tell me more. So, like, let's say you've got a 1940s style home. Huh. Play up, you know, you can play into that. Okay. People like the older things. Yeah, if it's got built ins, like, embrace the built ins. Don't just make it new and modern. No, actually, it was kind of interesting.

I was I was recently talking with a contractor. And we were looking at a very old building. And we're talking about what would it take to fix it up and he's like, Oh, I hate old buildings. Like, these are the worst. It's like, alright. But I was like, huh, I wonder what it would be like to be a contractor.

He's like, this is amazing. Let's restore it back to its old goodness. Because people do like the older buildings. It is true. I remember with our apartment building, there was, there was charm. I don't know what to call it. Some people saw it. Yeah. Like the clawfoot tubs are like, this is amazing. There's certain people were like, this is so vintage.

It's so cool. So that's exactly. So like lean into that. It comes with the charm. Yeah. Yeah. Just like leg lamps. Yeah. I had a my joke here was, just don't let your, your tenant triple dog dare your friends to stick in their tongues on their frozen metal porch railing. Yeah, we're not coming to deal with that.

Oh, triple dog dare you, man. Triple dog dare you. Our kids are, yeah, they're not quite ready for that movie, I don't think. No, I don't think so. But but yeah. But nostalgia, right? People like that, you know. It's true. Alright, let's talk about your favorite Christmas movie. Elf? Yep. I do love that movie. I know, there's so many lessons.

So many lessons. Oh, there's so many. What could it be? I know, you have too many options here. You're getting stuck instead of just guessing. You gotta think obvious. I know, I'm just like That's the What's his demeanor about everything? Positivity. Yeah. Say positive. Yeah. Look on the bright side. Every, every property needs a wow factor.

Oh, yeah. Is the takeaway. Yeah. And some sugar, apparently. So, like, he turned Yes. Do you like sugar? Yeah. So, he turned, like, an ordinary department store into a Wuncher, into a Wuncher Wondermill. Oh, yeah. You're right. He did. Right? He added the wow. And maybe Santa! I know him! You know, so maybe if our, if our, if your rental isn't renting, it just needs 1, 000 paper 10, 000 paper snowflakes and a World's Best Coffee sign out front.

That's, that is true. I mean, well, and it's like, okay, not even adding the wow factor, but just your interpretation of different deals or different properties, you know, and, and how you can see the upside to it. Because it's like, like, it's all about interpretation. That whole cup of coffee scene is like, Him interpreting that phrase totally differently.

Like the world's best cup of coffee. Congratulations. Where it's like no, that's just a saying. I just may recommend that if you're like, I don't know, staging a house, you just don't include spaghetti with syrup. Cause that could be a pain to clean up, but I don't know, it could sell. Yeah. But yeah, no.

And yeah, like you said, he's got just like a positive attitude. He can see. Where things can go. And I think that's important for real estate investing. Not quite like super wild like this, but in our very first place, I don't know if you remember this, but we had there was a kitchen with a table in it, it was pretty small, but it had a pretty big living room.

I do remember that. And the kitchen felt just cramped and not good, and what we were able to do is take part of the living room By just changing the flooring, we essentially turned it into a dining area, which tenants easily got, and they moved their table out there, which then freed up space in the kitchen, and all of a sudden the kitchen felt huge.

And that was like, that was how we found the wow factor, we were like, wow, they were like, this is a big kitchen, when that was a detractor originally. So I think it's like, like Buddy, What could this be? Turning cabinets into rocking horses. Exactly. Where did he get the wood for this? Exactly, exactly. You got it.

Alright, number five National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. I think this is also one of your top picks. Okay, it is. Okay, Yolanda, this is such an obvious, this is such an obvious one. It is? Oh yeah. Well, he's hoping for the Christmas bonus. There's that. He wants to, he wants to build a pool. Yeah, no, keep thinking further in the, that was he, what's his struggle, the entire movie.

What's he trying to do that he just can't figure out. And then eventually he does and blinds pilots and his neighbors. Oh, Oh, he's trying to get the lights lit up. Yeah. So. Know your properties and electric limits.

Alright, alright. I mean That's what I was expecting. It's very practical. Hey, you know, I'm I kind of, I kind of feel like There's a great lesson in there about, like, Not investing Money you don't have or like, you know what I mean? Cause he's like, I'm gonna get a pool. It's gonna be great I'm gonna do this.

I'm gonna go for it. And if any gets like the jelly of the month Club, which is just like, okay You really didn't calculate You know, yeah holdings and the cost of what you actually had and you know, fair enough Yeah. Although yeah, electricity, no, your electrical limits. That's important too. It's funny.

Oh, there's some nostalgia in that one too. Yeah. There's, there's a little bit of the roof in the attic and you just ends up watching those movies. Yeah. He's got cold. Oh man, that's, you know, you gotta hack it. Put it together when you can. Alright, number six. Love Actually. Definitely a Christmas movie.

That is a Christmas movie. Yeah, yeah. Okay, and, hmm.

This one's kind of a meta lesson. Meta lesson? Yeah. Kind of like, I wanna say like, be confident. Mm hmm. You know? I mean that's the whole thing the dad's trying to like tell the son. Yeah, see that's like, that's within the story. I'm like, So I would say overall it's diversity in real estate, Find diversity in your real estate investment strategies.

Because that's like multiple stories? Yeah, because they got like all diverse, they didn't, Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. They, the filmmakers didn't go all in on one of those stories. Okay. Right? I hear you now. That's one track. Six of them or something like that. Yep. And hedge your bets, because not all of them worked out great.

Some of them did. Yeah, that's true. And so, you gotta. Hmm. Yeah. You gotta diversify. That's important. I can see it. That's a good lesson. I can see that. That's good. That's good. Alright, number seven. Miracle on 34th Street. Yep. Yep. Alright. What would be the lesson for this? That there's lots of people who are not believers.

And, yeah, I didn't go that route. Oh, okay. That was too practical. I mean, if you watch the more modern version, they do get a house at the end. Yeah, that is true. It's a gift, but that's like too on the nose. That is true, yeah. Dude, I don't know. I was just talking about like, real estate plays a role in retail success.

That's all I know. How do you get there? Well, because like, it's just cause the entire story, like a lot of the story just takes place in a retail spot and just like, I don't actually, this one and the next one aren't my favorite, but all right. All right. I mean, I, I could see pulling something out of there.

I bring it back. I guess he pulled like, you'd have to stretch a little bit, but I could see pulling something out about like trust, you know, it's like trust the people that you're working with. So like, if you're investing with a sponsor or something, cause that's the whole, like this relationship is like with Chris Kringle, he has to trust the lawyer and like, You know, there's this, there's a whole back and forth there of like, okay, do we trust your testimony and what you're saying?

Like, can we validate that? Okay. Can you trust the people learn? Hmm. Just, and maybe it's not like, can you just trust them, but learning to discern who is trustworthy. Yeah. Who is not. Yeah. Maybe doing, doing your due diligence to learn. Yeah. Who's trustworthy to work with. Okay. All right. All right. I like that.

Yeah. Oh, that's better. Help me with this next one then. . 'cause I don't like it either. Number 8, Die Hard. Oh, Die Hard. Classic Christmas film. I mean, there's some like property security things in there. I can see that for sure. Oh, I know. I have such a good one. Hire a professional. Hire a professional?

Yes. Like, he was a professional. He wasn't hired, but he happened to be in the right spot at the right time, and he knew exactly what to do to catch the bad guys. Like, and that is what that makes me think of. Or, hire someone who just never gives up. Who keeps pushing, and going on, and they'll do whatever it takes to help you win.

Find good people to help you. To get you out of tough situations, out of jams. Yes, exactly. Cause you're gonna, like, real estate has things. Like, it's always gonna have things. Yeah. Like funky things, things that break, things that come up, tenants that are weird, like break ins. Break ins, yeah. There's gonna be things.

Yeah, like you need a team of people around you who are professional, who are like willing. Who are cowboys. Show up in the middle of the night. Yeah. Yippee yi yay! Let's go. Let's fix this. Let's go. Alright, alright. That's a great one. What was yours? I don't even Did you even say yours? Nope, I didn't. I'm gonna go with yours.

Okay, that was good. That was perfect. That's what that makes me think of. Mine was Commercial Real Estate Matters 2. That was mine. Come on. I told you! I didn't like those two. I mean, it's true. That is true. It is true, but your lesson is so much better. Alright. Well, I was trying to make sure each lesson was actually unique.

You know? Yeah, yeah. Alright Number nine. How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Poor Grinch. Okay, what is the lesson here? Hmm. From a real estate standpoint, I'm not loving this one either. Man, I was really like, I'm gonna say, It's alright, I will finish strong, I promise. I mean, Whoville Whoville Has a Grinch It's like the opposite of Buddy.

Oh no, so this one is just talking about how unique properties attract attention. Because his property is highly unique. That's true, it absolutely is. Over everyone else within Whoville. Yeah. Yeah. And so you want to talk about Doesn't he live on the dump pile? Like, at the top of a dump? Top of a mountain.

Yeah, but I'm pretty sure in the story it's, like, it's the dump. Are you sure? I think so. I think it's where all the Whos throw their garbage. Huh. Alright. I missed that. Someone needs to answer this. Alright. In the comments, let us know. Where's the Grinch live? Wherever you can comment. Yeah. I thought it was just top of a mountain.

I think it's the top of a mountain made of garbage. Like, the dump. Oh. I missed that. That would work. I mean, it would seem fitting. But, yeah, I don't, hmm. Alright, but anyways. If your house is unique, you want to play up those unique and unconventional pieces. It has such a positive spin on it. Yeah, yeah. I mean, you could also say if it's too crazy, Also true, there's balance.

But if you have a cool unique feature, especially if it's a desirable one yeah. Like on a mountain. Like on a mountain. Alright Number 10. The Muppet Christmas Carol. Aw, that's such a good one. Or just Christmas Carol in general, but that's the one I always watch. Okay, I mean, it's the story of Scrooge.

So, something about a Saving. Yeah. Investing wisely. That's actually pretty close. My lesson is, know your numbers, or the ghosts of cash flow past, present, and future will haunt you. That's amazing. It's true. Yeah, I mean, and he's like, and his biggest, Scrooge's biggest problem, right, wasn't just his lack of holiday spirit, but it was his obsession with hoarding money.

Right. Without considering its impact. Yeah, penny pinching. Yeah, yeah, he wanted all the cash flow possible. And and that's not always the best way to go. Yeah. Like, you gotta, you gotta have generosity that ultimately, you know, You win even more. You just, you help out the most. You, you gain the most, I guess.

If you look beyond just the cash flow. So it's definitely important, but you also don't want to be greedy. About it. I like that one. Don't worry, I'm going to end super strong here. I got two for the last two. For A Charlie Brown Christmas. I know, I know. See, and this is a classic Christmas episode. It's all fun, and then you have the heartwarming ending.

Aww, it's true! You're like, you are, you're pulling at the heartstrings. Alright, so, there's two lessons. Okay, all I can think of that movie, which I think is hilarious, is when, um, I get her name messed up all the time. Lucy's, no, she's Charlie's sister. No. Lucy's the one with the black hair? Yeah. Okay, when she kisses Snoopy.

I love that part. I don't, I don't know. I think, ugh, I kissed a dog. Like, I just think that's hilarious. That has nothing to do with real estate, I don't think, but. Alright, alright. I mean, pets? No, yeah, no. Allow pets. Alright, so, first one. Number 11, don't overlook the hidden potential of your investments.

Like your Charlie Brown Christmas tree. See, I do like this one because I, I tend to choose the trees that I'm like, no, one's going to choose that. Which you're like, yeah, exactly. It's awful. It's ugly. I'm like, yeah, but no, one's going to choose it. That was one of the properties we bought. Right. Remember that?

Our home on first Avenue. And I loved it. It was terrible. It was kind of ugly. But it was so, it had so much potential. It was so cute. So there you go. So that's important. Look for those. And then last one, again, this is from Charlie Brown, Christmas. Stick to your values. Ooh, that's a good one. Man. Okay. You did in strong.

I will give that to you. That was, that was super good. Cause you're right. Like you in real estate, if you don't have a clear parameter for like, What you value and why you're doing what you're doing. Like you're not going to make great decisions. Yup. Yup. And why something really matters. Cause you can get caught up in all the glitz of other stuff and maybe other strategies and just forgetting about that.

Like that was that bigger thing. And like people are going to get hurt if, if that's the case, because it real estate is a people business. Yeah. Like people think it's about numbers. It's about properties, but it's like, no, people use those properties for homes, for businesses, for life. Yeah. Like. It's a people business.

Yep. 100%. Man. That was good. There you go. Aww. I love Christmas movies. I want to go watch a Christmas movie. Alright. We need to go watch one now. We can do one more. Okay. Before the season ends. Okay. That's okay. So yeah. So those are my, those are my 12 real estate lessons from Christmas movies. Wow. 12 movies of Christmas.

There you go. Technically 11. That just dawned on me. Yeah. You got 12 as well. That's, that's why I went there. Yep. Yeah, yeah. So there you go. Hopefully you found that entertaining, fun, inspirational as well. We'd love to hear any lessons that you have from Christmas movies or just any movies in general, actually would be kind of cool.

And so if you enjoy this podcast, we'd appreciate it. If you let us know somehow, either with like, by liking it or in the comments. And if you are interested in Creating your own investment story along with us. We would love to do that with you and you can learn more about us at furlo.com and see what our investment philosophy is all about and how we like to invest with other people.

So with that, again, a final Merry Christmas, and in a little bit, Happy New Year. And yeah, thanks for listening.