From Immigrant Energy to Industry Leader with Juan Ruan
Arun: All
right, what's up innovators
and kingdom builders?
You're listening to the Hype
Pod, real conversations on tech
innovation and culture trends
from a faith-filled perspective.
Okay, this is episode 51 51.
First time listening.
Welcome to the Hype Network.
We gotta welcome all these
people to the Hype Network.
We're
Adam Smallcombe: gonna
welcome to the Hype Network.
And then if you, because
Arun: this is where we believe
you're one connection away,
that's a mandate, that's our
Adam Smallcombe: belief,
that's our core values.
But you gotta get,
Arun: you gotta get involved,
you gotta get connected.
So links all in the description below.
Yes.
Get stated in.
So today on the podcast
we have Pastor Adam.
Hello.
Um, we have myself, your host, Arun,
and we have special guest, Juan Ron,
president of K Connecticut Real Estate.
Let's go.
Juan, welcome to the High Tide.
Welcome.
Juan Ryan: Thank you.
Thank you so much.
Seriously, what an honor to just have
this conversation be together and.
Chat about whatever's relevant.
Oh,
Adam Smallcombe: we've got
a lot to talk to you about.
Is this the first time?
Can I just ask that?
Yeah.
We gotta address it all from the room.
We've definitely changed the model.
Yeah.
Yeah.
More we've gone more casual, low key
Arun: people didn't realize
how casual it is now.
Adam Smallcombe: Yeah.
You thought we were casual
before we got more casual to go.
Yeah.
So we've gotten rid of the desk where it
feels like a little, uh, coffee table.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Just a few blokes hanging out.
That's what it feels like.
Yeah.
Arun: That's what, that's what?
Just men.
Just men hanging out.
Just
Adam Smallcombe: men hanging out.
Hey, can we just mention the
incredible dap up that we did before?
Oh yeah.
We gotta talk.
You don't get
Arun: those.
It's very rare.
Adam Smallcombe: You're
very rare to get that.
But that was perfect.
Arun walked in, gave me
uh, incredible high five.
Yeah.
And man, the pop.
Arun: Oh yeah.
I think you heard it all around Palo Alto.
I think
Adam Smallcombe: it shook.
It shook the Silicon Valley.
Arun: Yeah.
Adam Smallcombe: So we're
ready to lay down today.
Yeah.
Uh, 'cause we have got one here.
Arun, where do you wanna start?
Arun: I think we should
start with your background.
You have a really unique background.
Yes, he does.
You have, you came, you're Chinese
American, but you grew up in Mexico.
Correct.
Tell us a little bit about, so we, I've
talked about this on the pod before.
Immigrant energy is crazy.
I always thought Asian immigrant
energy was the best, but Guy
gave respect Pastor Adam, he came
here, he built something great.
Is this
Adam Smallcombe: a thing?
Immigrant energy?
Oh, immigrant.
Arun: Oh yeah.
Immigrant energy is different.
Like Asian immigrant energy
has always been Yeah.
You don't, you don't mess
with Asian immigrants.
Nope.
So, but tell us how, what did you learn
from your parents kind of growing up
and then how did it get you into the
business of real estate and stuff?
Juan Ryan: Yeah.
So my parents immigrated in the eighties,
uh, from China to Mexico because we
had extended family there and they
had an opportunity to go to Mexico.
My parents were professionals in China.
My dad was a junior college professor,
my mom was a kindergarten teacher.
Right.
Juan Ryan: However, in the eighties
there was a change in government
and they essentially were working
really hard, nearly for nothing.
Mm-hmm.
Juan Ryan: So a lot of people, uh,
migrated out of China during that mm-hmm.
Period of time.
And my parents essentially
landed in Mexico.
So they, my dad was a cook and my
mom was a cashier, uh, in Mexico.
Mm-hmm.
They saved up money for about six
or seven years, and they bought
their own restaurant and bought a
two bed, one bath condo in Mexico.
So, wait,
Adam Smallcombe: wait, wait.
Which part of Mexico are we talking?
Juan Ryan: It's called, it's
a town bordering California.
Yep.
Called Ali Ali.
Yep.
Adam Smallcombe: Now, can I just ask
the obvious, is it a Chinese restaurant?
It's a Chinese restaurant.
Just check it.
I just wanna make sure question, you
know, question, not start a taco stand.
You know what I mean?
Juan Ryan: Hey, Chinese people would
do anything though, but I said,
I'll just say, uh, I'll just say
that, uh, that city, Mexican today
is actually known for some of the
best Chinese food in the world.
What?
Just because of how many
thanks to your parents.
Well, when my parents started
the restaurant, I believe
there was probably less than.
50 maybe.
Yeah.
Uh, there's hundreds if not thousands
of restaurants in Mexico now.
Wow.
That are Chinese food,
um, restaurants, man.
Mm-hmm.
Adam Smallcombe: And, uh, is the
restaurant still going today?
Juan Ryan: No, they sold
it, uh, 20 years later.
Oh, wow.
They sold a restaurant 20 years, so, yep.
So I grew up in Mexico my first
10 years on the Mexico you were
Adam Smallcombe: born there?
Juan Ryan: My two older
sisters were born in Mexico.
Mm-hmm.
Okay.
I was actually born in San Francisco.
Adam Smallcombe: Oh, wow.
But you got the one Mexican name.
Yes.
Love that.
Yeah.
Know your roots.
Love it.
Juan Ryan: Yep.
So, yeah, so anyway, uh, it's
really confusing actually.
Yeah.
It's confusing.
It's very confusing.
It's very
Adam Smallcombe: confusing because
I'm sure when people like read your
bio or something like that and they're
like, oh, Juan Juan's coming in.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And they're like, Hey, where's Juan?
Juan Ryan: Right?
Yeah.
So my first name is Les, LES, so sometimes
I have to use it, uh, you know, like,
because why don't you go with Les?
I think I would, my, my
family calls me Les, but Okay.
Then so many other people
don't know me as Les.
So then,
Adam Smallcombe: so now you've kind
of a products, I'll tell you a story.
There's this one time we were
at this house and, uh, my
neighbor had borrowed some tools.
Mm-hmm.
Adam Smallcombe: I wasn't home and
he wanted to return them to Kira, and
he said, Hey, uh, these are for Mark.
And Kira said, okay.
And then for the next like five
years we're there, he called me Mark.
And so I, I know what it feels like.
I feel your pain.
But Juan's a nice name.
I like Juan.
I'm
Juan Ryan: cool with it.
I think it just, I'm the only
Chinese one you'll ever meet.
Unique.
Maybe not in Mexico, but, sorry.
I'll, I'll, I'll, I'll,
I'll run with it for now.
I love it.
I love it.
Yeah.
Adam Smallcombe: Okay,
so you named Juan Les.
Really?
Uh, and you go by either in, uh, Mexico,
but you, you were born in San Francisco.
Arun: Mm-hmm.
So how'd you go from that, your parents
in the restaurant business to real estate?
Juan Ryan: Yep.
So I saw my parents work really hard.
Yeah.
I mean, they worked, uh, 14 hour days and
the restaurant was open seven days a week.
Adam Smallcombe: Oh yeah.
Juan Ryan: At the most, we
had one additional, uh oh.
At the lease we had one, one additional
employee, and at some point they
hired maybe like two or three.
Mm-hmm.
But they were the main operators.
Right.
Most people say like they owned a
business, but the truth is they just
owned the job that they were working.
Yeah.
Right.
So they were self-employed
and pretty much had.
Golden handcuffs, right?
Mm-hmm.
That they couldn't take any time off.
They couldn't, um,
really have any freedom.
At one point they thought
about scaling, of maybe opening
additional, um, restaurant.
However, the risk wasn't like
it, it wasn't worth it for them.
Right.
Right.
So they just stayed small and just made
a living and had a few good years and put
me and my sisters through a great life.
Yeah.
Like we never lacked anything.
Yet we were making money in Mexico.
Mm-hmm.
And at some point, uh, we had moved to
the US and now the pesos converted to
dollars was pretty much as a challenge.
Uh, we actually grew up under,
um, under the poverty line.
I didn't know that.
Right, right.
When they converted, we would've
probably lived the middle
class, uh, life in Mexico.
Mm-hmm.
But once they converted pesos
into dollars because they
owned the restaurant in Mexico.
Yep.
And then after they converted
into dollars to, uh, you know,
live here, essentially live here.
Mm-hmm.
We, yeah, we were pretty much like.
I think I remember seeing one
of their W twos at some point.
Um, and it was a family of us of five.
Mm-hmm.
And I think their W2 was like $28,000.
Wow.
Wow.
Um,
Adam Smallcombe: but what was the
decision to come to America if, if life
was kind of working in, uh, Mexico?
Juan Ryan: My parents already had
a vision of us being in America.
Yeah.
Hence why they had me here.
Yeah.
I was the last one to be born and
they already had made the decision
that I was gonna be born here.
Yep.
So, funny enough, uh, we
were in a border town.
Bouldering California.
Mm-hmm.
That starting at kindergarten for
myself in elementary school for my
two older sisters, we were actually
gonna private school in California.
Wow.
Juan Ryan: So my parents were,
uh, paying for private tuition
for us to be in California.
'cause we didn't have
California dresses Yep.
To be able to register to public school.
Adam Smallcombe: Yep.
Juan Ryan: And we would walk across the
border every day for six years Oh wow.
To go to school here.
Adam Smallcombe: Oh my gosh.
So
Juan Ryan: a lot of people ask like, oh,
like how come you don't have an accent?
Or maybe I do, but not as heavy.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And it was because my parents,
uh, sacrificed everything in
order to value education Yes.
For us to be here.
Yeah.
Always had a vision that we would
essentially end up here at some point.
Arun: Mm-hmm.
Wow.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
And you got into business early, right?
Like you, so you saw your
parents doing this and you were
like, I'm gonna study business.
I wanted to go into management.
And then, but what was that switch
to get into real estate then?
So I
Juan Ryan: think that that
was not my original plan.
Oh, okay.
My original plan is my parents
gave me three career paths in life.
Okay.
Classic, uh, classic Asian,
uh, doctor, lawyer, engineer.
I knew I couldn't look at blood,
so doctor was outta the equation.
I hate confrontation.
So no lawyer.
No lawyer.
So I was like, I figured maybe
I'll go the engineer out.
Right.
I love cars, so I figured, hey, mechanical
engineering is probably my best shot at
doing something that I might be passionate
about and, um, a career path that my
parents would, uh, validate, you know?
So I actually started my undergrad
as a mechanical engineer major.
Oh.
Way, uh, at UCSD.
Yeah.
And.
Long story short, after my first,
uh, freshman year of college,
I met my first business mentor.
Uh, one of my, uh, friends had
introduced me to a business mentor.
He was very successful in
telecommunications in the early
two thousands, uh, had become a
millionaire in his early twenties.
Mm-hmm.
And I was under his mentorship
for the, uh, for about three
and a half, four years.
Mm-hmm.
Juan Ryan: Um, pretty
much on a weekly basis.
Mm-hmm.
And that's what shifted my perspective.
I read a book, uh, by Robert
Kiyosaki called Rich Dad Poor Dad.
Oh, I love that
book.
Mm-hmm.
Juan Ryan: Just, uh, gave me an under game
changer, gave me an understanding about
assets and liabilities and truly what
it takes to win in the game of finances.
Mm-hmm.
And it just completely rocked.
I, I honestly felt like I was lied
to my entire life at that point.
Can I ask, did
Arun: your mentor recommend
this book for you?
Absolutely.
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
The key to getting a good
role model or good mentor,
really, I feel like everybody,
' Adam Smallcombe: cause that
was my first leadership
Arun: book.
Yeah.
Adam Smallcombe: Uh, for sure that I read.
Yeah.
And I feel like.
Everybody who I've spoken to who
read that book early, it was like
a light switch moment mm-hmm.
That went on to think differently
than everybody else around them.
Arun: Yeah.
Did you also get it from a mentor
or like somebody above you?
I
Adam Smallcombe: can't exactly
remember if like, who, who,
uh, referred, recommended it.
Yeah.
Somebody recommended it to, to me.
I'm just trying to think back.
Um, my, my memory doesn't really.
Recall, but I'm not sure if it was my
dad that, uh, got me to read it or, but I
just remember it was profoundly impactful.
Yeah.
I'm reading about how, you know, his wife
bought the house on a credit card mm-hmm.
And just all that kind of stuff and
I'm like, this is different thinking.
Arun: Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
There's so much that you can
learn just from like those
practical applications Yeah.
Of this stuff that you
just don't learn in school.
Like, you know?
Yes.
And it's just crazy that like
when you do have the opportunity
to present this to somebody Yeah.
And somebody was able to
show you this young Exactly.
It just like shifted how you went
into then what you went into next.
Right.
Exactly.
Yeah.
Juan Ryan: I mean, to preface
the story is very simple.
It's a storyline that says, uh,
that this kid grew up around his
dad and his best friend's dad.
Yep.
And those were his two dads.
Yep.
Mm-hmm.
And they had completely
different philosophies Yep.
About life, finances and how
they should go about mm-hmm.
Uh, pursuing, you know, a career.
Yeah.
And at the end of their lives,
he saw the result of each.
Mm.
Juan Ryan: And that's it.
It's so, it's such a
simple, easy to read story.
Yeah.
But once you read it, and because it's so
easy and it's such a great story that it
just, uh, it's, you could relate to it.
Yeah.
Right.
Very much.
Mm-hmm.
So that was at, I was, I was 18 or
19 years old when I read that book.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
And this was back in 2012.
Yep.
And after that, I completely shifted
out of engineering into business,
um, and started studying business.
I added it first as a minor mm-hmm.
To not piss my parents off.
And then, uh, yeah, I pretty much,
uh, pursued it pretty much full on.
Yeah.
Um, mm-hmm.
Arun: So when did you start the, 'cause
then the next step in your career was
like, you started getting into short-term
rentals, like fix or uppers as well,
flipping houses, long-term rentals.
And this was with your
mentor as well getting in?
Juan Ryan: No, this was afterwards.
Okay.
So, uh, my first business
was in marketing.
Yeah.
So that's kind of how I jumped,
started my entrepreneurship journey.
However, in 2018, uh, the way I got
started in, uh, you know, being able
to get into short-term rentals is
that when I moved to the Bay Area
from San Diego in 2015, I was pretty
much a struggling entrepreneur.
Mm-hmm.
Meaning I was new to a new market
Yep.
Juan Ryan: In a business that
had started three years ago.
Yep.
And having to relocate to a new market.
Mm-hmm.
And I had moved because my mom
was going through some, uh, health
conditions at the time that just.
I had the freedom to actually
move and I was supposed to be
here for three months, right?
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
And then within those three
months, I was doing everything.
I mean, uh, I think a lot of entrepreneurs
today see it as such a glamorous thing,
Adam Smallcombe: right?
Juan Ryan: Maybe because in the Bay Area
you do are you're able to raise money.
I mean, a lot of the people that we're
talking about, uh, startup here is, Hey,
how many people can I raise money from?
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
My perspective of entrepreneurship
is different because it's really,
you can only invest what you produce.
Yes.
And your business is only worth
what you can actually build out of,
which is different than Bay Area
startup entrepreneurship for sure.
So I was actually on a lot
of different, um, platforms.
Making extra money.
Mm-hmm.
Right.
I think I was on
platforms like TaskRabbit.
I think I was like one of the first
people to ever sign up for Instacart.
Uh, this was like 2015 probably.
I went to their office for an
in-person meeting to onboard.
Um, is that really how they
Arun: onboarded early back then?
Yeah.
Oh wow.
In
Juan Ryan: person.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Even back in college.
I mean, I was one of the first, when
I was in college, uh, I was one of
the first Lyft drivers in San Diego.
Really?
They would just pay me
just to have the app on.
Yeah.
Like they would pay like
40 bucks an hour just
Adam Smallcombe: to have the app on, and I
Juan Ryan: would just park at the airport
of San Diego airport and they wouldn't
even know what Lyft was at the time.
And I was just making 40 bucks an hour.
But they wanted
Adam Smallcombe: available drivers.
Juan Ryan: Yeah, exactly.
They just wanted to get people, you know.
But I think I say all that because
I want to maybe give the audience.
An understanding that when you're
starting new as an entrepreneur, you
have to have this mentality of, I'm,
I'm willing to do whatever it takes.
Mm-hmm.
Like my vision is to build a business.
Mm-hmm.
Juan Ryan: Um, but I'm doing, I'm
willing to do whatever it takes.
Right.
Yeah.
I love that I say all of that because
I got into short term rentals.
'cause I was building furniture
for somebody that was putting,
putting their properties on Airbnb.
Mm-hmm.
Adam Smallcombe: So, so, so hang on.
What would, can I just
extract a couple question?
Yeah.
For sures here, because there is a
work ethic that is the underlying
fabric of what I'm hearing here.
That there was a willingness to work.
You had a vision for what you wanted
to do, or maybe who you wanted to
be, but you were prepared to do
whatever it takes to get there.
Arun: This is called Asian
immigrant energy is, okay.
We defining immigrant energy,
Adam Smallcombe: but that was obviously
modeled by your parents that they
were willing to do the hard work.
Mm-hmm.
You adapted that.
And so that's kind of like your ex your,
your, uh, secret skill is your work ethic.
Juan Ryan: Mm-hmm.
I think what I saw from it all is that
my parents were working 14 hours a day.
Yep.
Seven days a week.
Two days outta the year
the restaurant was closed.
Wow.
Uh, Christmas, December 25th.
Yeah.
And January 1st, new Year's day.
Mm-hmm.
Okay.
That's it.
That's it.
So my parents for 20
years closed, never had
Adam Smallcombe: a day
off except for those days,
Juan Ryan: those two days.
Wow.
Adam Smallcombe: Oh my gosh.
Juan Ryan: Geez.
Oh my gosh.
And that is what I saw
the model of hard work.
Yeah.
So I thought I had it easy.
Yeah.
Juan Ryan: Truthfully, like I was
working hard and I've been working
hard yet in comparison to that.
Yeah.
I have a great life.
Mm-hmm.
Wow.
And that was before any success.
Yeah.
Right.
It was just, Hey, cool.
Like I at least get to make a living.
Yep.
Juan Ryan: And I'm doing it in a way
where I'm not working 17 hours a a day.
Amazing.
Seven days a week.
Yeah.
So, yeah.
Yeah.
So that's how I got started in
the short term rental business.
Yeah.
I met a guy I built.
He had five, uh, units that he had
rented in a luxury apartment complex.
He bought IKEA furniture and me
and another buddy of mine that
I had met doing these jobs, we
were building the furniture.
Mm-hmm.
And me and him were laughing.
We're like, this guy's crazy.
Yeah.
He just rented five units.
They're like three or 4,000 a month.
Mm-hmm.
Uh, in rent each.
Yep.
He just bought a furniture from Ikea and
we are like, he thinks he's gonna make
something out of himself out of this.
Right, right, right.
Yeah.
Literally that person calls me
two years later and he says, Hey,
I have 18 units in the Bay Area.
I need help managing, I need help scaling.
And at the time I was still running
my marketing company and that was my
main, uh, business that I was pursuing.
And I told him.
I told him a ridiculous,
uh, uh, offer, right?
Meaning I said like, Hey, you
need to pay me this a month.
I don't have any hours.
I don't report to anybody.
You send me what you need on Slack.
And I, I like talked to nobody, right?
Mm-hmm.
And I said, there's no way, right.
They're gonna agree to that.
I asked for like a full-time
pay, you know, essentially.
And he got back to me a few days later
and he's like, cool, when can you start?
Mm-hmm.
Adam Smallcombe: No way.
And
Juan Ryan: we took that portfolio
from 18 units, uh, to 105
units in two and a half years.
Wow.
Oh my gosh.
And we were all over the Bay Area
from San Jose up to San Francisco.
I started actually procuring
my own, uh, properties as well.
Yeah.
We were renting and leasing
properties, furnishing ourselves.
Uh, by the time that we had 105
listings, I had four partners, uh,
four different partnerships, and we
had eight units in Sacramento and I
was running around 78 hours a week.
I mean, getting these
properties ready for check-ins.
Right.
My cleaning team would have
20 check-ins, uh, a day.
Mm-hmm.
They would literally clean 20
units and get them ready in
Before 4:00 PM four exactly.
Wow.
In a four to five hour period of time.
Wow.
Right.
And I think that that's why, that's
how my Spanish actually came into play.
'cause a lot of our cleaners
were Hispanic workers.
Mm-hmm.
And, you know, we were able to
build rapport, you know, and
so this was early Airbnb days.
This is 2018.
Okay.
And so 2018 to 2020.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
Juan Ryan: We pivoted out of that
short term rental business during
Covid and the pandemic because, uh.
The guests during shelter
in place were all refunded.
Oh, right.
Mm-hmm.
So it was outta necessity, I think the
first 24 hours that they announced shelter
in place in the Bay Area, we had about
$70,000 worth of refunds over a quarter
million dollars in a three week window.
Oh.
And essentially we were looking at a three
month runway that we had for our business
before we could say we're out of money.
Mm-hmm.
Right.
So all of these reservations
were booked ahead of time, right.
People book a month, two months.
Yeah, of course.
Three months ahead of time.
And because it was COVID, no one knew
when travel was gonna come back again.
Adam Smallcombe: Right.
Juan Ryan: So essentially what we ended
up doing is we shut down every lease
that was month to month, which was 50
of the 105 units in a 21 day period.
Hmm.
Every day we're moving out of 5,
7, 10 units at a time, selling
everything on Facebook marketplace.
At the time I was renting a place, uh,
with one of, uh, my good friends and
we were actually doing garage sales
on the weekends out of our garage.
And Wow.
Just selling
Adam Smallcombe: furniture
and all that kind of stuff.
Juan Ryan: I, a neighbor called
the cops on us actually and said,
thought you was stolen goods.
It's in the middle of Covid, so people
are not even supposed to be interacting.
Got you.
And the police officer came up
and he said, Hey, what's going on?
And we said, Hey, we're strapped.
Right.
Like, we are in this situation, right.
We have Airbnbs that we can't rent
down right now, and this is all
the furniture that we're selling.
Mm-hmm.
And the police officer
was like, I'm so sorry.
And he just left and never, never
even followed up with it or anything.
Yeah.
He was
Adam Smallcombe: so
weird during that season.
Yeah.
They really were.
My pool guy reported us.
For what?
Well, we had a, like a Vibe Girl event.
Oh.
You know, you know, online broadcast.
Yeah.
But we had a few, few
girls over at the house.
Mm-hmm.
And the pool guy got
mad, like, come on bro.
Yeah.
Arun: You a vet who's
coming to your house?
Adam Smallcombe: Here, here you are
trying to hustle in a downturn market.
Uh, was this a redefining of your
business or just a pause in that business?
Juan Ryan: We didn't know it at the
time, but it was actually the best
revamp that we could have done.
Uh, I thought I was in
real estate at the time.
Right.
But the reality is that the short
term rental management business
is a hospitality business.
Mm.
Right.
You're dealing with guests.
That's true.
You're dealing with, uh, service.
So it's not a property business.
Correct.
Right.
So in the middle of it, we had done
some renovations on some Airbnb
properties that we took on as leases.
Mm-hmm.
That we said, Hey, we need to do
something in the short term that
can have a surge of cash into this
business for us to keep, keep running.
So at that time, we decided
that we were gonna pivot.
Uh, my business partner
was a realtor at the time.
Uh, my wife was a realtor
at the time already.
But you couldn't walk into
people's homes because.
It was Covid.
Yeah.
So you couldn't show homes
that were owner occupied.
Right.
You couldn't do open houses.
So we were stalled and we said,
Hey, what can we do in something
that we know we don't have to deal
with a lot of people and we can
actually bring in a surge of cash.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
And that's how we got
into flipping real estate.
Adam Smallcombe: Wow.
Was that a good
Arun: time to flip real estate, though?
That was like maximum fear, right?
Everything was down at the time.
How did you decide that you wanted to get
into buying such like large properties?
I think it
Juan Ryan: was outta necessity.
Yeah.
I mean, before that I always
wanted to invest in real estate.
Mm-hmm.
I mean, I had been in business at
that time for eight years and I always
wanted to invest and buy real estate,
but it wasn't until I had to Yeah.
That we actually took the initiative
to start investing in real estate.
Right.
So that's why I say it was a blessing
in disguise is because our back
was somewhat against the wall.
Yeah.
To say, Hey, we just need
to make something work.
Right.
Yeah.
The worst case that was gonna
happen is that we tried.
Flipping real estate, it didn't
work and our other business
wasn't gonna work anyway.
Yeah.
Juan Ryan: So it was either a
double failure or a possibility of
something working and maybe saving
the other business that we had.
Mm.
I
Adam Smallcombe: feel like we missed
a little step because, uh, one of
the key dynamics, uh, with you and
your business is you and your wife.
Mm.
Adam Smallcombe: Um, like pre is
just such a dynamic like agent, uh,
she's got this hashtag pre-approved.
She's just got this whole personality.
We talk about the alignment of
vision when you guys got married
and decided, Hey, did you guys just
decide we're gonna do this together?
Or, um, how does a couple
become a power couple?
Juan Ryan: Yeah, that's a great question.
And when I, to backtrack a little
bit, when I moved to the Bay Area
in 2015, I had mentioned I was only
planning to be here for three months.
Yep.
Well, I met Pree, who's my wife now.
Mm-hmm.
I met her two and a half weeks before
I was supposed to go back to San Diego.
So I had a, she's a game changer.
Yes.
That's what that means.
Yep.
I had a sublease of somebody that
was studying law and they had an
internship in Long Beach Uhhuh,
and that's why he had subleased
his place to me for three months.
Uhhuh, me and my business partner was,
were here for three months and randomly
it was my business partner's birthday.
We ended up going out one day,
uh, for dinner and grab a couple
of, uh, drinks on a Wednesday
mm-hmm.
Juan Ryan: And thinking nothing of it.
Mm-hmm.
And somehow pre had finished a work
event and she had also gone with
her friends out on a Wednesday.
And we just, our two groups were
the only groups in the restaurant.
It was an oyster bar in
San Francisco, Uhhuh.
And we somehow just merged,
started a conversation,
and that's how we
Juan Ryan: met.
And two and a half weeks later, after
we met my business partner went back to
San Diego like we originally planned.
Yep.
Juan Ryan: And I moved.
I actually came back to the
Bay Area with no place to stay.
Mm-hmm.
And ended up figuring out, uh, you
know, a situation because you guys
were talking, you guys were correct.
Okay.
Yeah.
And funny thing enough is
my first book that I gave to
Pree when we met was Rich Dad.
Poor.
No Way.
There you go.
Juan Ryan: Should have been retired young.
Retired rich.
Well, I told her, Hey, and
this is honest to truth.
It's like I told her, Hey, I'm
not looking for a relationship.
I'm really busy right
now, building my career.
Mm-hmm.
Building my business.
Yeah.
Um, and she was like,
cool, like me neither.
And I said, please read this
book, otherwise you're not
gonna understand my life.
I really love that.
I really love that.
And she gave me Tuesdays with Maury
or something, I think is a book.
She thought it was a, she thought
it was a book exchange book.
I a book.
So a little running thing.
It's cute.
But anyway, she read the
book and she actually, uh.
Got on board.
Mm-hmm.
She got on board where she
was like, I get, I get it.
Like I understand it.
She, yeah.
So she was actually on the journey with
me, even with my marketing business.
Uh, she had actually got
an active in it as well.
And when I transitioned to the short
term rental business, at some point
she also got involved and she was
responding on, on for, to the guests
and she was involved in setting them up.
And so throughout the journey,
I think that, uh, she's
been my greatest supporter.
Yeah.
Right.
Everything that I've, uh, pursued, she's
never been like, Hey, what about the last?
Adam Smallcombe: Right.
What
Juan Ryan: about the last deal?
That didn't work out.
Right.
Right, right.
What about the last opportunity?
Sure.
She's always been encouraging me to
say, Hey, like if anyone were to be
able to do it, like I believe that
you would be willing to and able to.
And, but what's fascinating
Adam Smallcombe: is she also
has the same work ethic.
Mm.
Mm-hmm.
Like, she
Adam Smallcombe: works hard.
She's like, and it's kind of like amazing
how God had orchestrated that meet
for you guys to kind of come together.
And you both have got the same
mentality, different backgrounds.
I mean, I think she's from Nepal, right?
Juan Ryan: She's from Nepal.
And funny thing enough is that
we are both believers now.
Mm-hmm.
But she grew up with a
Hindu background in Paul.
Yeah, that's right.
And I grew up with a
Buddhist culture background.
Yes.
Right.
Like we didn't go to temples or anything
and my parents weren't big on their
faith, but we definitely did have
traditions in which reflected Buddhism.
Adam Smallcombe: Right.
Juan Ryan: And we both really got, I,
I got saved in college in San Diego.
Mm-hmm.
My wife got saved at VI Church.
Mm-hmm.
And we both really.
Got sanctified here.
Yeah.
Right Where we started serving the
house of God, we started tithing,
we started really reading the Bible,
praying regularly, and doing all
of the things that, and leading
Adam Smallcombe: people to
Juan Ryan: Christ.
Adam Smallcombe: Yeah.
And
Juan Ryan: leading people to Christ.
Yeah.
I think that that's been one
of the most fruitful things is
our world's collide right now.
Yeah.
Meaning our workplace,
our faith, our family.
Like it's all one.
Like we have no can can you double
Adam Smallcombe: tap on that for a moment?
Because there, I've seen a, it's
not accidental, it's been a very
intentional, I've seen the way you
guys have done business, you've merged
business partners into your world.
Uh, there's conferences you've done,
you've even had me come and speak, you
know, to kind of make that connection
between, hey, this is our pastor.
Mm-hmm.
And you know, you've been very
intentional about getting your
circles to kind of overlap.
Um, what was your purpose in
doing that to just gear your
business as a evangelism platform?
Juan Ryan: I think everyone around us
told us, don't ever mix business with.
Your faith.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
And when we felt called to bring
people to Christ, I think that
we'd rather prioritize that Yeah.
Over who will do business with us or not.
Wow.
And I think that once we got grounded
and and understood that piece of it
Adam Smallcombe: Yeah.
Juan Ryan: Then we have no fear in
to say this is what we believe in.
Wow.
And I think that that has separated us.
From a lot of other
people in business mm-hmm.
That we talked to and they're believers,
yet they were like, wow, that's amazing
that you're like outward about it.
And I think that we just have that
perspective, like our priority
is not to build a business.
Our priority is to build a house of God.
Yeah.
And if we have an opportunity to do
it through our business, that's great.
My goodness.
Yeah,
Adam Smallcombe: that's good.
You're taking notes, Arun.
This is gonna have to write down.
Get that f work man.
This is good.
Juan Ryan: And, and truthfully
to, for us personally, it's
not gonna work for everyone.
Yeah.
Like our business has been blessed by it.
Mm-hmm.
Yes.
To the extent that we've been through
many downturns, we've been through,
you know, in real estate interests,
uh, hikes and things like that.
And we've continued to grow regardless.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And I think a part of it is
because regardless of what
the world says, like pre and I
believe that our provider is not.
The stock market?
Nope.
Or right.
How the condition of the market is
like we believe, hey, we're gonna
be taking care of no matter what and
we are able to show up in different
situations with that perspective.
Yeah.
I love that everyone could be fearful
Arun: because I think, I think what,
what you see traditionally in like
normal businesses is that you want
to keep all that out so you can be
inclusive of all the people, right?
To bring them into your company.
But the one thing I think people don't
realize, especially people of faith,
is that you want God in your business.
Oh, because he's the one
that's gonna give you the most.
Yes.
Arun: Towards, you know,
any success that you want.
Not just some, you know,
really talented person there.
Maybe they'll help you, but like, if
you want that kind of, I mean, I think
Adam Smallcombe: if you want, if you
really believe in the favor of God,
if you really believe in the hand
of God, there's a differential as a,
as a person of faith over the world.
I mean, you look at biblically, you've
got Joseph, you've got David, you've got
Daniel, you've got these great businessmen
of God, uh, who had the God factor.
They were able to use the Holy
Spirit insight to really prepare a
nation for famine or for downturns
markets, all that kind of stuff.
And I truly believe that today, one of
the differentiators that we have in our
life is anointing, especially if we are
actually inviting God in not separating,
go, Hey, this is my work lifeguard.
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
And then I've got my faith over here.
But bringing them together, you're getting
God's hand on every aspect of your life.
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
And
Adam Smallcombe: it's evident.
I mean, it's evident when we, like,
I think in your life, uh, Juan
with you and pre um, even meeting,
like, you know, knowing your
co-founders and just the people.
Mm-hmm.
I mean, it's, it's just been special for
me to kind of, as your pastor, to witness,
um, you kind of just pull me into your
world, pull your co-founders in, and
you know, we've, we've, uh, this ain't
a flex, but it's just a special moment.
We've been on rooftops in Rome, having
drinks and talking about the goodness
of God and just flourishing, and
we're planting churches and you're
doing business, and it's just like
all those worlds colliding, it's such
a special like picture of God saying,
Hey, I'm gonna bless everything.
I'm gonna put my hand on it.
You're honoring me.
Let the blessing flow.
Juan Ryan: Yeah.
I'll, I'll just preface it with,
we've never been the type of
Christians to be like, Hey, this
is what you should believe in.
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Like, we never have once like.
Told anybody, Hey, you
should read the Bible.
You should do this, or you should do that.
Right.
I think we are just mostly
public with what we believe in.
Mm-hmm.
Juan Ryan: Yeah.
And allow other people to ask if
that is a curiosity of theirs.
And also honor if somebody else
strongly believes in their faith.
We're not trying to quote
unquote convert them.
Mm-hmm.
Right.
We're just living our lives and saying,
Hey, this is what we believe in.
We don't need to hide about it.
And if somebody doesn't
appreciate that about.
Us being out there with it.
Maybe we're not meant to do
business anyway, like those
are not the people that we want
Adam Smallcombe: to work with.
Well, but I think I'll go, I probably,
and I agree with that, but I think
I'd take it another degree further.
I don't think you're
just living your life.
I think you, you guys live your life
intentionally with character integrity.
You model values.
It's not like, Hey, we're
just living our life.
No.
You're like very focused on, Hey, can we
exemplify Christ through the way we live?
Yeah.
More than just jamming a message at them.
And I think that speaks volumes.
If you're in business and you're
not operating with ethics.
Mm-hmm.
If you're not operating with those
values of integrity, then no one's
gonna trust anything you say.
But all those things actually validate
when you do extend an invitation.
Right.
And or they do ask a question,
why do you guys operate this way?
And it's like, well, because
I've got Christ in my life.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And
Adam Smallcombe: so I think the way
you live with intentionality is a big
kind of platform to proclaim Christ.
Arun: And I think it's the
best kind of evangelism, right?
Yeah.
It's where people can see it in you
instead of having to hear it from you.
'cause there's one thing with you
just saying it, and then you can
just be doing something in private.
But when they almost just, without
you even having to say anything, they
can see how you act with other people.
Yeah.
And it kind of goes to like
kinetic's real like mission, right?
Yeah.
You guys have a mission you
wanna share, um, with everybody.
But it goes to like that
idea of like reaching people.
What is the
Juan Ryan: mission?
We're empowering people to build
wealth through real estate.
Mm-hmm.
And that is a very blanket statement.
Oh, I love, love that though.
That is a very blanket statement.
However, we do feel that we're doing
it in more than just one aspect.
And what I mean by that is
maybe I'll share a story.
Yeah.
Uh, to maybe encompass it all is, uh,
my business partner came to me one day,
uh, this was like three years later,
and he said, Hey, do you know how much
we're paying our transaction coordinator?
A transaction coordinator is somebody
that essentially, uh, moves the documents
and makes sure that everything in file
is properly, uh, you know, in order
when a transaction is going through.
Yeah.
And at the time, uh, it
was like $15,000 a month.
Right, right.
You could easily hire somebody
administrative and probably
pay them less than that.
Right.
Sure.
And get the same work done.
And our conversation was around like, Hey,
do we want to just go and hire somebody
and replace that and do it for cheaper?
Right.
Right.
Or do we continue to do this?
And she wasn't a player.
Mm-hmm.
And I think
Juan Ryan: our conversation at the
end, we both concluded, Hey, we'd
rather have her win big, being in
relationship with Kinetic real estate
than just trying to do it for cheaper.
Wow.
Or trying to do it, you know, in
a, in a way that might be more,
uh, beneficial for the business.
Yep.
So I think that our concept is how
many people can we be in relationship
with Kinetic, maybe not just kinetic
real estate, but our partners,
our vendors, like everyone can be
winning and growing rather than just
trying to optimize profit margin.
I love that.
Right.
And to a certain extent, it sounds
really good on the o on the flip
side is like, okay, yeah, you have a
business that might be less profitable.
Right.
Overall yet, uh, in every market
turn where other people are
struggling, we've always grown.
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
Right?
Yeah.
So we just take it as a philosophy of we
really are looking at making an impact in
the industry and doing things differently.
Yes.
Uh, so yeah.
Arun: Yeah.
I love it.
I wanna, I want switch gears
a little bit, but just talk
about real estate in general.
Yeah.
Because like the Bay Area, I mean,
you built this, are you open Dubai?
Yes.
So personally I will say, I mean, I have
a good friend, I don't wanna say name.
Yeah, I know a guy.
Yeah, I know a guy.
Yeah.
That's, you know, kind of helping
me through this process, but I've
actually heard a lot of people,
especially in the Bay Area, just
'cause of how housing prices have been.
Yeah.
Arun: That it's just a different mindset
than the generations before where it
was like the goal was to buy a house.
Right.
The goal was we need to buy a house.
But now it's like, is a
goal really to buy a house?
We can probably just rent?
Do we need to make this huge
person when you purchase where
you take on this massive loan?
Yeah.
Have you seen a shift from
when you started in the game
to like where the game is now?
Juan Ryan: It's a very
interesting conversation,
depending on what your goal is.
Mm-hmm.
Juan Ryan: Right.
Because would you say, if you were
to ask me, and I'm in real estate,
should everyone buy real estate?
My answer is yes.
Mm-hmm.
Should everyone live in
the property that they own?
Interesting.
Mm-hmm.
My answer is no.
Interesting.
Why is that?
It's because in the Bay Area we're
looking at prices that are not.
Your usual pricing in
the United States, right.
The average home in the United States
is somewhere in the range of $400,000.
Mm-hmm.
Juan Ryan: In the Bay Area,
the average price for a home
is over a million dollars.
Yeah.
Right.
So being, you know, out of college
maybe, or being new in your career,
taking on a responsibility of
over a million dollars in debt.
Arun: Mm-hmm.
Juan Ryan: Is IR
financially irresponsible?
Arun: Yeah.
Can we talk about that?
This is insane.
Like these massive loans that
you take on 30 years out, it's
essentially like you're, you're
taking out your coffin, right?
Like, you're just like, take on
this, like you're purchasing it and
then you're just, you're sleeping
in it for the rest of your life.
Right?
So it's a crazy concept to me
now, but like I understood it
when our parents were coming here.
'cause you do need shelter, you need
stability, you need to lock this in.
But now it feels like.
Because of options you have to change.
Yeah.
I think I,
Adam Smallcombe: and I'd love to hear
Juan's mentality on this because, I mean,
this is something I hear a lot mm-hmm.
From probably millennials, gen Zs is
just such a, a fear about mortgages.
Mm-hmm.
A fear about signing, you
know, like a 30 year loan.
Mm-hmm.
Um, but yet they'll lay down, you
know, five grand a month on rent.
Yeah.
Adam Smallcombe: And, and I'm like, hang
on, that is not working for you at all.
Right.
Um, when you could spend 5,500 a
month on rent, and Yeah, you've
signed on the dotted line and you're
encumbered to this, but you've got
this thing called capital growth.
Mm-hmm.
That is, you think about it in the,
in an area like the Bay Area, it
is expensive, but what is, what's
natural capital growth a year here?
Maybe 50 grand, uh, a hundred grand.
Even in some years, you
know, we were chatting
Juan Ryan: about a.
30 year track record
of Bay of Real Estate.
It's appreciated.
330% over, oh my gosh.
Over 30 years.
So that's about 10 or 11% a year.
10 or 11% a year on a million bucks.
You're talking about a hundred grand.
You're a hundred
Adam Smallcombe: grand.
Mm-hmm.
You think about what you would
have to do workwise to make
another a hundred grand a year.
Right.
And you are just living in your house.
Right.
Instead of living in some, so,
so I'm a big proponent for owning
the house you live in, which
I'm counter difference counter.
And then I
Arun: wanna get your point of view.
Yeah.
Okay.
So this is a counter, 'cause
what I would say is it's just
investment opportunity, right?
So you can invest in real estate,
or you can take that cash that
you would put in real estate.
Mm-hmm.
Like I'm paying five grand
a month in rent, let's say.
Now that money I would put into a
down payment or whatever that is.
I can now put that into the stock market.
Yeah.
And potentially earn more
than 10% potentially.
I think that's what people are
seeing now potentially is the key.
Juan Ryan: Right?
Right here, here's the difference.
Okay.
Here's the difference,
Arun: but if
Adam Smallcombe: there's
tariffs come along.
Juan Ryan: Yeah.
Right, right, right, right.
Here's the difference between the
two, because someone would would
ask me, Hey, I got a hundred grand.
Should I buy stocks?
I got a hundred grand.
Should I buy real estate?
Here's the differentiating
between the two.
Here we go.
Right.
Real estate is the only way
that a bank will let you borrow
a hundred thousand dollars.
Yep.
To go invest it.
Mm-hmm.
Juan Ryan: If you ask the bank
today, Hey, can I borrow a hundred
thousand dollars to invest in stocks?
Unless you got a lot of other
assets, uh, that you can leverage
collateral, they're not gonna give
you a hundred thousand dollars, right?
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
Yet the bank is willing to let you
borrow, borrow a hundred thousand
dollars to go buy real estate.
Mm-hmm.
Why is that?
Mm-hmm.
Juan Ryan: Security.
Well, the difference is that when
you invest a hundred thousand dollars
in stock, and let's say you make
10%, you're making 10% on a hundred
thousand dollars, which is 10,000.
If you put a hundred thousand dollars down
payment to buy a million dollar house.
Depreciation is 10% on the total
value million, not the a hundred,
not a hundred thousand dollars
down payment that you're getting.
Mm-hmm.
Wow.
That's so good.
So you're talking about a 10,000 gain.
That's a great argument, Juan.
$10,000 gain versus possibly a
hundred thousand dollars gain.
Right.
The other aspect of it is that there's
tax deductions only in real estate.
Right.
By owning real estate
and not in stocks, right?
Mm-hmm.
So you pull that 10,000 out of
the stocks that you gain, right.
And you're gonna pay a portion of
it in, in, uh, in, in capital gains.
Mm-hmm.
Right?
In real estate, you can actually live
in the primary home that you have.
Right.
You can earn up to $500,000
as a married couple.
Right.
And pay zero money in taxes, at
least living in the property two
years that the last five years.
Right?
Right.
So you could see that the, the
rules are actually set up for you.
The math is math thing.
The
Arun: math is math thing.
But the one thing that you
lose is flexibility, right?
Because you can go in and
outta the stock market quickly.
You can go from investment
to investment pretty quickly.
Adam Smallcombe: Yep.
Arun: In real estate,
you're locked in, take
Adam Smallcombe: some time to buy assets.
But like even
Arun: the tax breaks, there's
like, you have to be there for,
what did you say, two years?
Two, two years.
Two years to be able to do this.
It's like the flexibility changes.
Why do you wanna move
Adam Smallcombe: so much?
Arun: I'm just saying it's like, well,
in the silicon, what is, what if there
Adam Smallcombe: is a
a, a key to locking in.
Arun: Yeah, that's fair.
But in the Silicon Valley, don't you
feel like things are shifting so quickly?
No.
Within two years.
Well, let me ask you quick on, yeah.
I don't know this actually,
I'm, I'm a curious answer.
Juan Ryan: How long have you currently
lived in the city that you live in now?
We've been there for three years now.
Three years, right?
Yeah.
So I think that time passes.
Wait second.
That got me.
No, I just got no, I I think that
year and a half do people do have
that mentality though, right?
Yeah.
But I think that time actually
does pass pretty quickly, right?
Right.
Yes.
Where three years, five years, seven
years, people don't know this, but
the first time home buyer in the
Bay Area, uh, majority sell within
the first five to seven years.
Mm-hmm.
Juan Ryan: Right?
And the reason why is because
they usually have enough equity
that they've built by being.
In that house and the house is appreciated
enough that if they were to sell it, they
can actually buy something different.
Right, right, right.
Which could look like a better
neighborhood, a bigger house
or whatever, different school
district, correct?
Juan Ryan: Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And that's how we see people do it.
Yeah.
Either they're getting gift funds
from a family member or somewhere, or
they've gotten into their first home
that has appreciated and they exchange
out of that into a different property.
Yeah.
Adam Smallcombe: I think there's
a bit of a mentality, like I think
we're seeing like even a mentality,
generational difference, right?
Mm-hmm.
Because I think what we have in our
current generation is maybe 'cause of
the difficulty of getting into a home.
Mm-hmm.
They're like, let me get rich quick.
Yeah.
Let me get in the stock market,
gamble, crypto, uh, let me,
let me do all these things.
Let me be an influencer.
Mm-hmm.
You know, that's their goal in life.
Yeah.
Because I don't have to work.
My daughter was telling me the other
day, oh, you know, there's these
influencers, all they do is do a video
each day and they get like, get stuck in.
And I'm like, yeah, but that's not.
They get old too, you know?
Yeah.
Like there's, there's like a
limited thing, but I can see
this generation wants immediacy.
Right.
Whereas what you are
missing out on is legacy.
Mm-hmm.
Adam Smallcombe: And, uh, you know,
you, you buckle down, you save, you work
hard, which is a tried and true method.
Mm-hmm.
Get into a property, uh, and what
a blessing if you can get like, you
know, generational wealth or whatever.
Right.
But just even that hard work, uh,
will get you into a property and
literally from there, I, I just think
the first property unlocks so much.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Adam Smallcombe: Because you've
got capital gains, you've got
stability, you've got equity.
Mm-hmm.
And, uh, you know, I mean, there's
many times we've talked about the
power of equity and what you can draw
down on and all that kind of stuff,
but I call it you're in the river.
Mm-hmm.
You're in the river of gains.
Yeah.
Adam Smallcombe: And all of a
sudden there's a river flowing and
as long as you're renting Yeah.
You're, you're not getting.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
Juan Ryan: Yeah.
I think that was a big run around to
come across this idea of it's worth.
It's worth buying real estate.
Mm-hmm.
But it really comes down
to when somebody is ready.
Mm.
Right.
Juan Ryan: And especially
in the Bay Area, I think.
When is that?
Time is when you have
a healthy down payment.
Mm-hmm.
And you're comfortable
with your monthly payments.
Yeah.
I think if that, those two check the
box, I think it's the right time.
Yeah.
Because if we are looking at a 30 year
history and we know that it's appreciated
330% over the last 30 years, more than
likely that trend is gonna happen.
Mm-hmm.
Juan Ryan: So then if you can get in
the gain, like Pastor Adam said, then
you're eventually gonna get to a place
where enough equity has built that up.
You've paid enough of the loan down
that you now are sitting on some pretty
serious equity on, on, on a lot of cases.
I
Adam Smallcombe: mean, you do, you
do a lot of coaching with this too.
You coach people on how to actually
get out of that impossible mentality,
like, I'll never be able to buy a home.
Mm-hmm.
And you have a way of sitting down
with them and showing what's possible.
Um, what do you think is the
biggest barrier to people actually
getting into that first home?
Juan Ryan: I think the
biggest barrier is mindset.
Yeah.
People think it's down payment.
People think it's credit, people think
it's income, but I think it's mindset.
Mm-hmm.
I have a story of this family that
has, they're immigrants, uh, from Peru.
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Right.
And there was an agent that
used to live in the area.
She moved to Ohio.
Uh, Idaho.
Mm-hmm.
And she referred us a client, and
when we got the, contacted the, the
client, the client only spoke Spanish.
Mm-hmm.
My wife actually got the lead.
Mm-hmm.
And she was like, Hey, this
client only speaks Spanish.
And I somehow got into Yep.
Uh, you know, in conversation
with them, they've been renting
for 15 years in San Francisco.
Mm-hmm.
Wow.
And they never, ever could
have thought they could own.
Mm-hmm.
Juan Ryan: The property that
they rented for 15 years went up
for sale without them knowing.
Oh, wow.
Juan Ryan: So the day that they found
out it went out for sale was the day that
there was a sign outside of their house.
Mm-hmm.
Juan Ryan: Uh, saying that
this house is for sale.
So they had called desperately saying
like, Hey, would there be any way
for us to maybe buy this house?
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Juan Ryan: Right.
And essentially, they don't
really know how to use technology.
They came to our office with
all your W2, uh, paperwork.
We scanned it, faxed it, uh, uh, sent
it through email to our, uh, our lender.
And
throughout the entire process,
the chances of that transaction
going through is like 20%
Right.
Juan Ryan: Throughout the entire process.
Yet we had a consultation
in the beginning.
We said, Hey, this is not gonna be easy.
Mm-hmm.
Juan Ryan: Yet if you guys don't
give up, like we won't give up.
Wow.
And this was in partnership with
the client and also with the lender.
We are all on the same page.
Right.
Right.
Juan Ryan: And my lender
is also an immigrant.
Yeah.
You know, uh, grandparent story.
So we're all on the same page, right?
We're like, Hey, look, you
guys don't speak English.
Mm-hmm.
You guys work hard for the last 15
years you've been renting, but if
you don't give up, we won't give up.
Right.
Juan Ryan: And what was
supposed to be typically a
three to four week transaction.
Mm-hmm.
Turned into four and a half months.
Wow.
We're literally about to close this week.
Uh oh.
Wow.
Yeah.
So long story short.
Oh, so this is our current story.
This is, it hasn't even closed.
I thought you were
Adam Smallcombe: taking as
Juan Ryan: memory name.
Yeah.
Memory man.
Now let's
Adam Smallcombe: pray for this couple.
Yeah.
Seriously.
Amazing.
This is somebody
Juan Ryan: that came on
Thanksgiving Day to our office,
uh, to scan their documents.
Wow.
Wow.
'cause they were like, we
really want to do this.
And funny enough, I had a,
had a Thanksgiving lunch yet.
I was like, I'll come in the
morning, scan your guys' documents,
and I'll go to my lunch later.
I got to my Thanksgiving lunch late
because of how many documents we
were scanning to send to the lender.
And four and a half months later,
essentially we're still in the
middle of escrow and all parties.
I mean, you can imagine the complexity
that can come with a four and a half.
A month transaction.
Right.
And borrowers have borrowers and
co-signers having to come in and out of
the deal, uh, the file restarting again.
Uh, the lender having to pay
multiple credit reports, multiple
appraisals in order to make it happen.
Wow.
Yet it's possible.
So what I'm saying is there's so many
people much more qualified than them Yeah.
That are still not buying.
Wow.
Arun: I, I love this story because it
goes into what I wanna chat about next,
which is like the, the technological
disruptions in your industry.
Yes.
And one of the ones is, was like Redfin
and AI agents, and you have all of these
like new digital interfaces That's right.
To do the job of house hunting.
But the story you shared is that personal
connection that you get when you have
like a realtor or a real estate agent.
Talk about the space, talk about like how
you're seeing technology disrupt it and.
How that human connection is
still like required in the space.
Juan Ryan: I think technology, ai,
and everything within the space
is there to enhance the experience
between a client and the professional.
Yet I don't think that the professional
could be easily replaced with technology.
Mm-hmm.
Because there's a lot that
goes behind a transaction.
Yeah.
Juan Ryan: That the AI or the
technology can only do so much.
Yeah.
Right.
Like data.
Even today, Redfin estimate and Zillow
estimates, how come they're not accurate?
Mm.
Juan Ryan: Right.
It's because all they're doing
is that they're pulling data from
around the neighborhood and trying
to give you a best estimate.
Yet when you talk to a real estate
professional, especially in a competitive
area like the Bay Area mm-hmm.
You pull real comparables.
Mm-hmm.
And you do a market analysis.
Well, guess what?
They were not considering the
fact that one property had a
pool and the other one didn't.
Yes.
They weren't considering that one property
had a view and the other one didn't.
Yes.
They weren't considering the fact that
this one was sitting on a corner lot
versus this one was actually in the middle
of two homes that were really tight.
Uh, you know, the, the
backyard fences were tight.
There's so many nuances that, uh, can't
be considered easily with technology.
Yeah.
Juan Ryan: Yet one of the advantages
of technology is that you can
actually become more efficient
and effective at what you do.
Mm-hmm.
So, for example, like we have a
partnership with a technology company.
Our company's called Kinetic Real
Estate, but we're actually brokered by
a big, a bigger brokerage called Side.
Mm-hmm.
Juan Ryan: So you get a
boutique real estate experience
mm-hmm.
Juan Ryan: Yet backed up by
a big national brokerage.
Right, right.
And.
Side started as a tech company
first in San Francisco, and
they produced technology that
service real estate agents.
Mm-hmm.
Most older brokerages are a real estate
brokerage that is trying to adopt
technology to service their business.
Mm-hmm.
Right?
And that's the biggest difference.
And the easiest way to explain it
is like, we have an app in which
the typical agent that is not,
that doesn't have the technology.
If they saw a property and you guys
walked into an open house and you guys
liked it, what they would have to do
is they would have to pull up their
laptop, open an app, uh, a website, or
an application that syndicate all the
documents and everything, pull 'em up
individually, fill out all of it, and
then send it to you for signatures, right?
Mm-hmm.
Juan Ryan: We have an application
that we use where we can actually
write the offer on our phone
off of an app in five minutes.
Mm-hmm.
Juan Ryan: And that's how we help our
agents scale to do more business and focus
on the client experience versus taking
time to do that administrative work.
Wow.
Et cetera.
Arun: Yeah.
There's a bunch of like
really cool advancements.
I don't know if this happened.
Because of Covid.
Um, but the advancements in drone
technology, the advancements in like 3D
mapping allows you to now virtually tour.
Oh.
The experience
Adam Smallcombe: is amazing.
It's insane.
Yeah.
It's
Arun: pretty cool.
Like where do you guys see yourselves
maybe taking this the next step further?
'cause you do have like
a technology subsidiary.
Do you see some like ways to advance
your business using technology to
make it an even better experience?
Juan Ryan: I think over the
last five years it's been a
big, already a big change.
Mm-hmm.
Right.
The way that some of these, uh,
applications that our consumer facing
have changed is pretty incredible.
Yeah.
Right.
Even how functional an app like
Zillow, Redfin, or any of these,
uh, front facing apps have become,
have already been very cutting edge.
Right.
To the extent that the consumer
has a lot more information
and data to work with Yeah.
Versus even five years ago.
Yeah.
And I think that that's what's
gonna happen is that the consumer
will be much more educated.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yet I personally feel that removing that.
Individual person that is assisting you,
uh, in, in a lot of, in some cases it
could work in most cases, I think it's
not to the benefit of the consumer, right?
Arun: Mm-hmm.
Right.
Mm-hmm.
Right.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Did, do you feel like, um, there's a
space, and we're gonna get into, we,
this question's been asked on this
pod a lot, but you know, why crypto,
like, why do you really need it?
But the, the digitizing of
like, real estate or like really
making this something that's
like, I knew you were gonna ask.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So how are you approaching it?
Are you hearing anything about
it in the real estate space?
But like where do you, where do you see
crypto and real estate kind of merging?
Juan Ryan: I'll, I'll be honest with
my answer, and I'll just say it from
my limited perspective and opinion
of how deep I am in real estate,
I don't think that they'll merge.
Yeah.
I think that at some point crypto can be.
Used as a way to buy real estate.
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
But I don't think it'll be merged.
Yeah.
And the reason why is because the reason
why real estate is an asset class of
itself is because it's a physical product.
Mm-hmm.
Right?
Stocks, crypto, um, NFT,
well, I mean whatever.
Right?
You could bring anything else.
Mm-hmm.
It's paper money.
Mm-hmm.
Juan Ryan: Right?
Mm-hmm.
At any point, it can change and fluctuate.
Mm-hmm.
And it's hard to put a value in it.
Mm.
When you're talking about real estate,
I can go to a property and give you a
breakdown of how much it'll cost in labor
and materials to put this property here.
And I'll also give you how limited
it is of land for the specific area.
Yeah.
And that's where the
value truly holds, right?
Mm-hmm.
As labor goes up, as materials
go up with terrorists, right?
Mm-hmm.
As all of these different things change,
inflation happens, it's gonna cost
more money to build in the future.
And there's more limited space in areas
that want to be, people want to be in.
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
And that's the reason why I think
it's a, an asset class in itself
that will be unchallenged compared
to a crypto, a stock, et cetera.
Mm-hmm.
Right?
Because it is a physical asset
that has hold, holds real value.
If you want to go and build something,
it's gonna cost you something.
And if you're trying to find
land, there's only limited
amount of
Juan Ryan: land.
Right.
Right, right, right.
And I think that that's why the
separation, um, I do believe that there
will be many opportunities in which people
will try to create digital real estate.
Mm-hmm.
But how much value is there
really in digital real estate?
Mm-hmm.
Um, yeah.
You know, versus real, real estate.
You can live in it.
You can rent it.
Yeah.
Arun: Yeah.
I think there is an aspect of it that
I've seen that's really interesting and
we'll see what ends up happening, but.
Like fractional ownership of real
estate, like putting that on chain.
Um, you have the concept of
holding your money in escrow.
Like it's such, such a long process of,
you know, I wanna pay for this house.
I take a loan out, here's the
money that's held in escrow.
Well you can do this with blockchain
smart contracts and be able to
do that transfer of funds mm-hmm.
Without having that
intermediary of a bank to do it.
So I think there is some room,
we'll see what ends up happening,
but, 'cause it just take, there's
a lot of moving pieces here.
You need a lot of like regulation,
you know, in the space.
Um, but you did bring up something
really interesting, which is the tariffs
and kind of our climate right now.
What's some advice that you would
give people that maybe are looking
for homes, uh, in this space right
now that are like trying to go through
this and navigate it and like what
are some things to look out for when
they're buying home buying right now?
Mm.
Juan Ryan: Yeah.
You know, it's interesting, we had
this conversation, um, recently
about like, hey, well it seems like
there's seems to be some fear and
a stall in the marketplace right
now, and not just in real estate.
I mean, you're talking about some of the
most connected and influential people
in the world coming publicly and saying,
we don't know how this will impact.
Our, our economy, our,
you know, everything.
Right.
And it reminds me a
lot about Covid, right?
It reminds me a lot about in 2022, a
couple of years ago, when the interest
rates started to rise and no one
knew how it was gonna play out, yet
there was fear in the marketplace.
And my advice is when there's
fear in the marketplace and no one
else is going out there to pursue
it, that's your moment, baby.
That is your window of opportunity.
Yes.
Mm-hmm.
Because when you go along with
where the masses are going, yes,
you're gonna get the average.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Because that's what majority,
what do majority people get?
Exactly.
Majority of people get average.
Right?
Right.
Yes.
So how do you get a different result?
You have to do something that
majority of people are not doing.
Yep.
So if you were to ask me
right now as a friend mm-hmm.
What would I do right now that
people are fearful, I would
actually try to make a move.
Yes.
I would actually try
to go and do something.
While everyone else is stalled.
Right?
Yeah, I agree.
Yeah.
So I think that that's, that's
what I like, how someone wants
to put that practically into
action is something different.
Yeah.
Because I mean, it's across
Adam Smallcombe: industry, right?
Yeah.
Like, I mean, right.
Like, you know, uh, let's say not right
now, but like the last couple of days,
this is the time to buy, uh, stocks.
Right, right, right.
You know, the bottoms
out, okay, let's buy low.
Yeah.
Buy low, sell high.
It's the same with real estate.
Buy low, sell high.
And when there is a fear in
the market, the bold, that's
where you make that opportunity.
Whether you're building a business or
buying real estate or making a move on
stocks, it's the bold, uh, uh, what is it?
Uh, fortune favors the bold.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
You know, and so there is those moments
where it's everyone's buying, you know?
It's the thing to do.
Yeah.
Yeah.
You're just in the run of everybody.
You're not getting that
edge on the market.
Yeah.
And so, yeah, I think I, I mean,
I love talking about this 'cause
it's such an exciting space, right?
It's such a.
Real estate as a business, as a
technology, whatever it looks like.
It is such a rewarding investment.
Mm-hmm.
Uh, when you see growth, you see
people's lives connected to it.
Homes.
Uh, it's not just houses,
it's homes right there.
There's stories.
Uh, it's such a really fun space to be in.
Arun: Yeah.
Yeah.
Actually one of my, uh, you
guys seen the founder, um, yeah.
Oh, I love that.
Where, like that shift when they were
going through this process and he realizes
you're not in the restaurant business,
you're in the real estate business.
Yep.
I'm curious as somebody that's kind
of like planting all these churches.
Does that shift happen also
within the church plant?
Obviously there's a higher mission
and higher calling for this.
Yeah.
But really, you kind of also
are in the real estate business
as so as a church planter.
Yeah.
Very
Adam Smallcombe: much so.
Very much so.
There is a, one of the things that
we've actually looked into is,
okay, what does it look like to
not just plant but sustain mm-hmm.
And generationally.
Yeah.
And for us, you know, we, there's
gonna come a time where it's not
just campus is setting up and tearing
down, but we need real estate.
We need bricks and mortar.
Mm-hmm.
We actually saw this during Covid.
Yeah.
Uh, where we had no real estate and so
we couldn't do what we wanted to do.
We were subject to shut downs
and all kinds of things.
But if the church is ever gonna
supersede those things, we need to
be able to own real estate mm-hmm.
And have our own doors that we
can open or close when we want.
Right.
And, uh, that's gotta be our plan
across the globe, is to actually create
something that generations live in.
Mm-hmm.
So what, when I think about us as even
fellas, what we're pioneering today.
Fear your kids, uh, God
bless them when they come.
Mm-hmm.
Yep.
Uh, what they get to walk
in is what we pioneered.
Mm-hmm.
And I feel like real estate is
such a pioneering establishment.
You are setting up legacies, right.
And generations.
And, uh, that creates a new platform
for to do even greater than what we do.
Arun: Yeah.
I love this, um, idea of
commercial real estate.
And maybe you can kind of give
us some kind of pointers here.
The one thing that you really see
is like with these big tech tech
companies is they just took over a
ton of land, a ton of real estate.
And even at one point, like
Google, like where I was previously
working, had this idea of creating
residences alongside their campuses.
'cause they wanted people to be
like living there, right there.
And it would be interesting, I
don't know if this is even possible
with churches, but if you had
like a ragtag team of like Right.
Good, smart real estate people Right.
And you start building homes
alongside of the churches that
you're building, like communes.
Adam Smallcombe: Yeah.
Like, no, but no, but that is, I
mean, I love that integrated society.
Right?
Right.
Where it's like, where you
can do, 'cause we've thought
about it with innovation wing.
Mm-hmm.
Can we have business, kingdom
business with, with the church?
Yeah.
Uh, having residential,
that would be epic.
Arun: Yeah.
'cause you, and I think the, the
reason that I say this is like,
you can bring Christian values into
that space and I think sometimes you
just hear the fear with like maybe
buying or renting or whatever it is.
Yep.
It's just because there's, you don't trust
the person on the other end of that thing.
That's true.
But if you have people that
are in the space, in the faith.
That are doing these things, leading
the charge there, it'd be really cool.
So that'd be good.
Yeah.
I don't know.
You just
Adam Smallcombe: look at each other's back
door and be like, Hey, what's up, Arun?
Oh, that's the kind of community
you wanna be in, right?
Yeah.
Um,
Arun: but before we take off, I
just wanted to ask, um, you're
all about education in this space.
Where can people find more information,
um, about this for you mean?
Yeah.
Juan Ryan: And how can they find kinetic?
Arun: Yeah.
Juan Ryan: Yeah.
So information about real estate Yep.
In general
Arun: for, or just like the education
content that you guys put out there, or
even just meeting with you guys and stuff.
Yeah.
Juan Ryan: Yeah.
I mean, I, we're actually very,
I, I'm a very simple person.
I don't really have like webpages
and content and courses created.
Mm-hmm.
Um, I, yeah, I, I I'm on
social media, um, on Instagram.
Yep.
Um, my last name, RUAN
and then, uh, do Dynasty.
And the reason why is because
that was my first team that I
built and that was the name of it.
I love it.
And I haven't changed it since it's game.
A name.
Yeah.
And, uh, kinetic Real Estate,
kinetic real estate.com.
Um, and also we have an Instagram
page that we are pretty active in.
Um, yeah.
So cool.
But you, do
Adam Smallcombe: you do, uh, different,
uh, faith in home buying courses,
that kind of stuff here through
the church, that kind of thing?
Yes,
Juan Ryan: we do.
And yeah, we do home buying courses
as events and webinars as well.
Yep.
However, um, I honestly think it's
not really a lot about education.
Okay.
Juan Ryan: You can find
everything on YouTube nowadays.
Like you can find all the
content and information you want.
It's about the risk.
I think it's taking the risk and
taking on the mindset like, Hey, I'm
actually gonna take action this time.
Yeah.
Rather than like, learn
more and more and more.
Right.
Um, yeah.
Adam Smallcombe: I love that.
I, I think like, you know, we're in
2025, if you don't have a home, what
if you just set a goal this year?
Mm-hmm.
Adam Smallcombe: This year I'm
gonna get into the market somehow.
Some way.
Yeah.
I'm gonna make a connection.
I'm gonna start looking at my
finances, get things in order.
There is enough time this year Yeah.
To get into the market.
Arun: Don't have analysis paralysis.
That's what ah, there you go.
That's what's been told to me.
Don't have it.
Just you can't, you, you're gonna keep
reading, understanding all this stuff.
Sometimes you just gotta take
the leap, the link to faith.
We'll add all the content and
link to the description below.
Yes.
Um, it's been a great pod.
Thank you for coming.
Coming on on.
Thanks.
Coming in.
Um, I think it's really educational, Les.
Thanks for having me.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
What an honor.
Yeah.
Yeah, it was a great episode.
And yeah, follow us on social media, um,
and I can't wait for the next episode.
Let's go.
Cheers, guys.
