6 Years Ago, He Bought His First Rental: Now He’s Doing 24 Deals a Year

0:00Don't want a boss or a day job deciding your future? What if you could ditch the 9 to 5 for good and replace it with a business that gives you serious income and total control over your time? Today, you'll hear from someone who's actually doing it. At just 32 years old, Brett Hundley has already retired from one career and built a thriving real estate business designed around one goal, freedom. Not just money, but the ability to live life on his terms. Take that dream vacation and say yes to opportunities that most people can't. Brett's secret weapon is using the leadership skills he honed during his eight-year NFL career to build and manage teams, to run renovation projects day-to-day, and hit lofty goals like completing 24 deals per year.

0:52If you're ready to build a real estate business that doesn't just cover the bills, but actually funds the lifestyle you want, Brett will show you how to find your lane, scale from zero, and take control of your future.

1:10Hey, everyone. I'm Dave Meyer, Chief Investment Officer at BiggerPockets. We've got a great show for you today. It's an investor story with Brett Hundley. He's a former NFL quarterback turned Arizona real estate investor who's doing the exact type of deals that everyone in our community could also be doing. So let's jump in with Brett and hear what he's up to. Brett, welcome to the BiggerPockets podcast. Thanks for joining us. Man, thank you for having me. This is a fun one. Yeah, this is going to be a lot of fun. So tell us a little bit about yourself. What's your professional background? How'd you get into real estate?

1:42Man, I like to say I fell into real estate. But background, I played football, went from Chandler, Arizona, and then went to UCLA, played in the league for eight years as a quarterback. and then during my time actually while playing football I had sort of got into real estate when I was in Green Bay that's where I bought my first house and that is essentially what got me into it and then it wasn't until I got to Arizona who I started sitting down with teammates of mine Larry Fitzgerald Devin Kennard is another big one and I grew up with Devin and then Prince Mucamara who is another Arizona native I used to sit down with them every day after practice Prince was doing short-term rentals Devin was doing long-term rentals and Larry was doing a whole bunch of stuff oh wow yeah and um picking their brain and then that's how i started buying my first short-term rental then the first new bill like a little real estate club no 100 that's like yeah 100 that's how i fell into real estate you know i have a prince of mucamara jersey do you really yes i'm a giants fan it was no it was our first round draft pick yes no i went to the opening game and bought it still got it and this dude so prince too so he's from arizona and I didn't realize that from Arizona so it was me him and Devin Kennard on the same team playing for the Cardinals and Prince was doing short-term rentals and he had one day he was like dude like I'm just sort of saving my money yeah like what are you doing because I was like okay maybe buying some rentals and stuff and he was like dude like check out the short-term rental and he showed me all his numbers he was like and it was crushing and I was like all right so I bought my first property like five minutes away from his really yeah okay and then and then it started crushing it and then Devin Kennard as well was doing a lot of long-term holds yeah I was running a lot from him.

3:16So, man, just picking those guys' brains sort of got me into it, and then I sort of just took off running. You know, Devon's been on the show before. He's written a book for BiggerPockets. What do you think it is? There seems to just be this overlap between professional sports and real estate. Why do you think that is? Let me dispel this thing right now, because people look at us, and they're like, man, you guys have the access, can dump all this money into real estate, and honestly, like, when you really look at the statistics of making it to the league, one, I mean, you're talking .0002%, of all athletes who try.

3:47But then once you make it, most NFL rosters are made up primarily of undrafted guys. And then when you hear all these$100 million, $200 million price points, it might be one or two guys on the roster. And the rest are usually at league minimum. And then if you do get a contract, most average are 2.3 years, 2.8 years. Wow. That is a career. That's your average career for most guys. And so that doesn't even get you to your pension, which is 3.3. And luckily I was blessed to play eight years. So I had a great career, but a lot, most of us, if they make it are going to play for 2.8 years and then have to figure out what's next.

4:23So is that kind of the mentality? Like when you talk about meeting with Prince and Larry and Devon, is that what you guys are thinking about and what, why you're starting to plan real estate? I sort of, like I said, I felt, found a passion for it when I did the thing, did the property in green Bay. And then I actually started outside of that in new builds. So I was right in the Arcadia area. And I had a friend of mine out here who had built the house I had bought and was living in out here. I found a house and I said, hey, dude, would you be cool to partner up? I found a good house I would love to tackle.

4:57And so we toured to the studs and built up new and sold it. And that was when COVID happened, too. So, I mean, the city shut down everything. It ended up making money, but it was a two-year, three-year process. But I think a lot of the times when we get into the real estate space, I think for us, it's just the process. Like if you do it right, it is a process. If you're flipping, and that's sort of what we're used to. So I think that's some of the things we look for in other investments. Yeah, it's just kind of a math problem, right? I mean, there's process and you have to do the execution, but you can build a system to make it somewhat repeatable.

5:28Absolutely. Yeah. And it's almost like systems. Like especially for me being a quarterback, my whole thought was like I'm used to leading a team of receivers, knowing the offense, knowing sort of the whole play calls. I view real estate the same. It's putting a team together and then knowing what the triggers of each person is and then also making sure we get to the end goal, which is creating this product and building this thing. And it's a system. So once you do it once, I think a lot of us say, oh, okay, there was some challenges, but it's not the end of the world. Now let me repeat this, refine it, make it more efficient, and keep it going.

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9:01Welcome back to the BiggerPockets podcast. I'm here with Brett Hundley talking about his transition from being an NFL quarterback to real estate investing. So it sounds like you got a little bit of influence. You said Prince Mucamara is doing short-term rentals. You did a little new build. You did a renovation. How do you think about your portfolio strategy when you really started to get into it? When I first started, did the property in Green Bay, but then I sat down and was sitting with Devin Kennard, Prince Mucamara, and Prince was doing short-term rentals out here. Devin was doing long-term holds in the Midwest.

9:32Larry, again, was sort of overarching, like making big investments and projects and stuff. And I had started with short-term rentals as a rental portfolio. And this, at the time, I do say I got lucky. This one interest rates were like two or three percent. So I could probably shoot and not miss. I was like, I could shoot and not miss, honestly. And so I bought my first property right around the corner from Prince's short-term rental. And we would sit down every day after practice. He would sort of show me everything. He would show with Devin Canard. He showed me a lot. And then from there, I bought one property, started a management company as well, just to keep it rolling.

10:07And then I bought another property, which I ended up living in. And then I bought another property. Short-term rental or long-term? All short-term rentals at first. And then from there, once I bought three, then I started my new build. And so I was sort of just jumping into things. I was like, okay, I like the cashflow that's coming from this. And then from there, once we did the new build and finish that. Then that's when I sort of analyzed doing a new build, the money I made, the ROI and how long it took. And then I dumped into probably a flip style property, but it was about a$1.5 million resale.

10:39I bought probably like 900, sold it for like one, four, one, five. So it was a bigger investment. Yeah, big swing. But then I started working my way down and seeing the price points of all these homes. So I did that. And then the next one, I jumped into like buying at 350, selling for like, I just started seeing what worked and what was the best return on time on capital. And so I got to find the, like from the top to the bottom and the spread of each. And then I sort of found my niche and then just started rolling with that, honestly. And the niche is flipping. Yeah. To be honest, like I love new builds.

11:11No, no discredit to anybody who does all the new builds. But for me, like time-wise, as far as return in and out on projects, like in capital coming back, I found, I found a true passion for flipping. That's really cool. Yeah. I love what you were saying too, about just thinking about efficiency, because I think a lot of people hear, oh, you could go out and flip a million dollar home, make a big profit, but you're also buying 350. Yes. So why would you spend your time doing the lower price home? Yeah. You know, a good, a great friend who was, became a mentor of mine, but now is one of my best friends.

11:46Zachary keeps out here his slogan trash the cash Zach love you man um but uh he he has been he's probably one of the largest single family home owners in Arizona he's been doing flipping for 20 years uh and I sought him out and actually just wanted to learn from him as well and uh you know he had I was telling him what I was doing and he was like you know the money I was making and he was like dude just try one of these and I was like I could have tried it and I dang near made as much money as I did right yeah on the big projects and I was like less risk right yeah and that's exactly what he was getting at.

12:15He was like, dude, your capital is being used. There's so much more risk. You do one of these. And I think actually one of the properties I did, I made like a hundred something about it was just a quick flip. But I realized like, man, I don't have to take these big swings and risk all this when I can still do in this range and still make some decent money in it. So did that become your buy box after that? Or are you still kind of open to anything that makes sense? Yeah, I'm honestly open to anything that makes sense. I think for myself, what I've tried to focus more of is just analyzing deals, you know, as sharply as I can, man, because especially in this Arizona market, like there's a lot of people doing it.

12:54And, um, you know, I, I've been just, it's not like I'm jumping at everything. So a lot of this stuff, most of the stuff I just pass on, but like, if, if the deals anywhere it's coming from small, big, like if, if the opportunity is there and the risk is worth it as well, I'm sort of open for it. Yeah. That's good advice. You know, we have a mutual friend, James Daynard, some often hosts on BiggerPockets, who does the same thing. Like he takes these huge swings. He's flipping like a$6 million house. I went to the house. Yeah. Is it cool? Yeah. It looks insane. Yeah. He takes these massive swings, right?

13:24But he'll also buy stuff that's like 300 ,000. And it doesn't really make sense until you think about efficiency, return on time and return on capital and just being open to anything that meets your underwriting numbers and not being too strict on your buy box. Is that one of the ways you are competitive in Phoenix? Because Phoenix, I mean, it's as hot a flipping market as I would imagine in the country, right? Yeah, saturated for sure. So how do you stand out? I think the biggest thing is just having that wider range buy box. And a lot of guys, now that I'm trying to get my name out there a little bit more and people know I'm buying Cash Buyer and stuff like that, and I always throw that out there, Cash Buyer, if anybody doesn't.

14:05Hit them up. but um you know i think it is having that wide range like i just like james and i you know i've been uh around him and been able to pick his brain and study him and watch what he does but i think it is just a lot of guys i've noticed are sort of and there's nothing wrong with it they find their sort of sweet spot and they run with it yeah me i'm like dude if the deal is worth it even if we're talking a million two million six million in james case yeah as long as the returns are there to outweigh the risk just like if i'm buying a 300 400 thousand dollar house and doing that like i'm completely open to it.

14:36And honestly, I like the less riskier ones. Yeah. Right. I mean, if you can make as much money and it's less risk, why wouldn't you do that? That's a better deal. 100%. By the numbers, that is a better deal. One of the things, too, that I think sticks out, especially as athletes and just general society, everybody wants this big, shiny, like prod home run, swing, the beautiful things. And I'm like, dude, like you have a nice like prod three, four hundred thousand dollar house. Like it might not be the big multimillion dollar mansion, but like it still is a cash flowing entity. You can make money off of it and it's less risk for sure i mean i would rather risk 50 and make 100 than risk 200 to make 250 you know like that's just the math and how how it should work out yeah but i gotta ask you man you said you liked flipping and you're passionate about it i just i've done two now because james forced me to do it yeah i am on the fence of if i like flipping I got to be honest.

15:30What do you like about it? I have enjoyed the process of like seeing something completely run down. Yeah. And in the matter of a couple months, like turning it into something beautiful, honestly. And I mean, it does come with the inherent risk of like getting into the property and finding things that you might not be ready for. But at the same time, like, again, everything falls back to underwriting. If you underwrite it right, you sort of walk it and you know what you're looking at and you do the homework, like I feel like you get a good understanding of some things to be able to now say I'm taking a bad property in my own stopping grounds where I grew up at.

16:05Yeah. You know, adding value. I think it's an awesome thing. I think it's like the one of the most underrated part of real estate investing. It's like you do provide value to your community. If you do it in the right way, there are some shady operators in real estate. Absolutely. Yes. I don't think you are. No, absolutely not. I want to make sure people get a good home. Yeah, Exactly, right? And you are restoring something and providing that, especially at those lower price points. Some affordable housing is super cool. To me, in my very limited experience as a flipper, so much of it is about leading a team.

16:36So you talked a little bit about that recently, but how has your experience as an athlete, literally a team player, and as a quarterback in particular, sort of translated into your flipping career? Yeah, that has been the one thing that I think is the biggest, I find the most joy in, honestly. I went from leading offense, going out to the field, getting hit, and trying to score some touchdowns to now doing the same but trying to build a property. In all transparency, nothing's perfect. You find people, you meet people, you meet contractors that you work with one time. I've had experience where I don't work with them again.

17:14I've went through multiple contractors. I think finding the right people to fit what I'm looking for And my biggest thing, too, is like the culture behind it. Like I also do want people like to enjoy what they're doing. You know, like everybody's out here to make money, get paid and stuff. But at the end of the day, like you don't want people walking into a job slouchy, not caring about what they're doing. Like you want people who actually enjoy what they're doing. And I think finding that team for me has been like the greatest thing. Because now, like when I get a new project, I'm excited to send out a text like, all right, boys, we got another one.

17:45Let's rock. You know, and stuff like that. But I think it's been fun for me to like just sort of swing by the project, see how things are going, you know, put up the pictures, making sure they know what everything. And like that's that's the like small joys that I get. Yeah. And then to see it come together, you know, and it's not something I got to be there every single day. But like when you find the right guys, like it makes the world's difference. I think this is such valuable advice or insights for our audience because, you know, I haven't done a lot of flips. I've done a lot of burrs and renovations and that kind of stuff.

18:12And, you know, you don't think about culture because they don't always work with each other. They work different businesses. But there is a culture of the job site almost where it's like if you're the flooring guy and you show up and the electrician sloppy. Yes. And not or grumpy or not doing a good job. And you as the operator let that slide. Yep. They might not put in their best effort. And so it's sort of on you to sort of create the standard and the work environment. and people want to be there and they want to contribute a lot of success, whether you're renovating a bathroom or doing a whole flip.

18:46Yeah. That little difference in the culture you create will cascade probably throughout the whole project. Yes. And that's that, like I always envisioned it, like Seattle, Pete Carroll is a great example. Like he had the best, one of the best culture programs. And like, that's also what I get to learn from and take what I'm trying to put together and building. But like Pete Carroll, you know, John Harbaugh, like these guys at practice, like it was fun. Like you enjoyed what you're doing while you're doing it. And, you know, there's been some times and programs when you're losing and stuff, you come in and it might be dreary or whatever.

19:16But like at the end of the day, like as long as the culture, you got music blasting in practice. Like I like walking into a job site and I hear the music. I'm running around. Demo team is in there. I'm like, all right, let's, you know, like, yes, I enjoy it. But that's like, you should come in and like we're all in this to make money and enjoy what we're doing. But like there has to be like a standard of set. And it's a performance standard. So it's something where everybody knows like, Like, hey, the music's going, we're all in here working, but like, we're all trying to get done what we need to in time, you know?

19:45Totally, yeah. And if you don't have that and everyone's grumpy, it makes it harder to give feedback, too. I think it's like, if you have the ultimate, you're ultimately accountable for the job, right? Everyone's pissed. They're not going to be receptive. If they're having fun, if they feel respected, if they feel like you've got their back and have their best interests at heart, when you put in a change order. They might not look at you like they want to kill you. You know, it will actually be a little bit better. It's so true, though, man. Like, I think the craziest and the beautiful thing about it is, like, I want everybody to feel like it's a team.

20:23Like, that's literally what it is. So, you know, if a designer does put in a change order, I unfortunately have to deliver the message. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, but I don't want people looking at me like, you know, I want to bring the energy. I want people to have fun. Yeah, I love that. That's great advice. What role do you like playing on the team? I like being the manager. Yeah. And what's cool about what I have built is it's almost like a family affair. So, like, my mom, by trade, is an interior designer. Oh, cool. And my wife is an agent. Oh. So, like, it worked. Did you plan that? I didn't.

20:55That just happened that way? It did, man. Wow. When I first started buying my properties, my mom, she's a flight attendant as well and does interior designing, went to school for it. And I was like, hey, like, can you just start doing my short-term rentals? She did kill those. And then when I got into the building and the flipping, she then started doing those. And it sort of became this cool family team. That's awesome. And yeah, didn't plan it. But then in my position, I'm like, okay, well, I'm not the guy who's going to be at the job site every day on people's butt. I let people breathe and enjoy and do what they need to.

21:29But at the same time, it's like, hey, we need to get this done by then. And I want to make sure if I can get them as efficient as possible, I give them the schedule. I put up the photos. I say, hey, I got cabinets being delivered on Monday. When do you need this? Like I'm the middleman between all the contractors. So doing like project management, a lot of that stuff. That's why I found my sort of niche and like what I like doing. Like, okay, hey, we got flooring coming, cabinets delivered. When do you need this? I'll make it happen. Yeah. All right, Brett, we got to take one quick break, but we'll be right back.

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