Steve Rozenberg:
From Pilot to Property Management
Episode 160: #DroppingBombs with The Real Brad Lea (TRBL)
Tenants, Toilets & Turmoil
It’s hard enough to get your dream job. What would you do if the career you worked your whole life for was taken away with a day’s notice?
At 25, Steve Rozenberg was a commercial airline pilot based in Guam.
It was the best job in the world. Everyone says, ‘Oh man, you’re set for life. You don’t have to do anything. You’re good. Nothing’s ever going to happen to you.’ I’m thinking, this is great.
Then, in August 2001, Steve and his wife decided to pack everything up and move back to the United States. While they made the trip by plane, their household items staying weren’t scheduled to arrive for several months. So, the two stayed in an unfurnished condo until their belongings arrive.
Steve’s future was looking bright… for about one month. Then, September 11th happened…
We even don’t have a TV. All of our sh*ts on a boat! So, all of a sudden, all this stuff breaks off with 9/11. I’m hearing it on the radio and I’m thinking, ‘Holy sh*t, what’s going on?’ So I’ve got to go to Circuit City to actually see what’s happening on the TVs. And I remember thinking to myself ‘Wow, this is…this is serious.’
When that happened, every plane had to land immediately, wherever they were. About four days later, Steve was sent to pick up one of the grounded planes.
I remember walking through this huge terminal, looking at these planes… and there’s no one there. It was just empty.
It hit Steve that he had no control over what would happen to his career — and that his life would never be the same again.
Airlines started prepping for a possible shutdown.
They just said, ‘Hey, we appreciate you working for our company. But, we’re not even sure if the airline industry is going to exist. So here’s your furlough notice.’
About 200,000 other pilots didn’t know if they had jobs or if they were going to be on the street. Because Steve was still a junior pilot, it was even more likely that he’d be cut.
What would you do if the career you work your whole life for was taken away with a day’s notice? With his back up against the wall, Steve decided to try his hand at real estate….
After a lifetime dedicated to flying, Steve had to start all over.
I didn’t know anything about it because my whole life I was focused on just being a pilot. Now I’m 29 years old and I’m going, “Oh, what am I going to do? What’s this new real estate word? What’s NOI and cash-on-cash?
While he still had a job at the airline, Steve used his income to start flipping and wholesaling real estate, then bought investment properties of his own.
He watched other investors make the same mistake over and over…
They buy a property and want to do it themselves, but don’t know what they’re doing. So, they screw it all up and think, ‘Real estate sucks. I’m getting out real estate.’ Real estate doesn’t suck. You’re just a bad owner. You’re a bad businessman. You don’t have any structure. You don’t have any procedures. You should have never gotten into it in the first place.
Investors were failing for the simplest reason: They weren’t picking the right tenants.
Trust your instincts when choosing a tenant.
It’s adult daycare. Putting in a sh*tty tenant who doesn’t pay is the same as having a vacant property.
Steve developed a knack for managing properties and picking the right people to live in them.
He developed a niche that’s revolutionizing the industry.
We pay the referral fees. We give them the thing that realtors want. If you’re a realtor, right? You want that sale, you want the front end sale, you want the backend sale. We want to manage the asset in between.
Now, Steve teaches people how to grow their own business.
If you’re interested in either learning to run properties better, getting into property management all together cause there’s a fricking lucrative industry and it’s growing, growing, growing, with everyone starting to buy properties now.
About Steve Rozenberg
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Steve is an airline pilot based in Houston, TX for a major airline and has been involved in real estate since 2002. He has owned and helped manage a 39 unit apartment complex. He still personally owns over 31 homes today along with his business partner Pete. Because of his background in aviation and working for such a large company, his knowledge, and experience in processes and systems has helped play a vital role in making Empire Industries LLC what it is today. Like what you heard from today’s guest? Check out Steve Rozenberg’s podcast here!
