 Hey guys, Chris Birch here, entrepreneur strategies, providing more knowledge on investments, on real estate stock options, and just general entrepreneurship. And this evening we are joined by a gentleman who is just north of me in the Baltimore market. We have Todd Sacks with Sacks Realty. Welcome Todd. Thank you very much. Appreciate being here. Thanks for having me on your show. So Todd, if you could tell all of my subscribers here on YouTube and other social media platforms, give us like a, I always say a 5,000 square foot view of who you are and what you do. The high level view. Yeah, the high level. There you go. There you go. Chris, well I'm a real estate broker here in Maryland, so we help buyers and sellers and renters and landlords of both commercial and residential real estate. But we also help them all over the country. We have an amazing broker network everywhere, mostly everywhere. So we give a lot of referrals out to competent agents and brokers throughout the country. But I started in 1989 as a contractor swinging a hammer. I was a builder, contractor, landscape contractor. And through the years, that's what I've been doing. I've been developing houses, building houses, rehabbing, land development. In 2017, I started Sacks Realty and I sort of like the epitome of my career. I just wanted to get more on the management and advisory side of things. And we have a very small brokerage here with some very competent agents and loving every day, just doing stuff like this. We have a YouTube channel and just trying to provide good value and great information. Awesome, man. Well, welcome. Thank you so much. So myself as an investor in, so let me rewind. In Baltimore, I consider there's really three different types of real estate in Baltimore. You have the inner city down by the harbor, down by the inner harbor and then the east of the harbor. You also have the far west side where I think a lot of people initially hear, oh, Baltimore, you can buy so cheap in Baltimore. You can buy a row home and renovate it. You can buy it for $10,000 and go up and renovate it and then flip it or rent it. And then you also have the real estate in the counties. And I guess the pain of picture for both of our viewers, there is a vast difference between those three different types of real estate in the Baltimore region. And my question to you is a lot of my subscribers are new, not that savvy investors. And I've heard stories from different people. They look online or contact the agent and they find a really, really distressed property. It's minimal cash investment of let's say $10,000. The property only needs $40,000 or $50,000 worth of renovation work. They get halfway into the project and the west side of Baltimore comes in and rips out plumbing, rips out electric because you're now an active project and everything's exposed. What areas, and that's the drastic side of the west side that I'm referencing. You also have the, down by the harbor, beautiful new up and coming. You have little Italy and Canton. And a lot of people are seeing great success investing there. And then you also have the counties, which are more the non-inner city brick row homes. These are single family homes that usually sit on a little bit of property. For the new investor, from your experience being a real estate agent, without suggesting to them an area, what are some of the more up and coming reasonable areas for an investor to start looking at? Yeah, that's a great question. So let's just kind of dissect that a little bit. So let's talk about one of the things that you said. And first of all, it's very exciting. You want to invest in real estate, whether you have a lot of money or you have no money. If you really build the right team or really learn as much as you can, you can find there are a lot of different ways to make it happen. Baltimore City, I'm originally, I was born in Baltimore City. My dad was a Baltimore City police officer. We moved out to the county. I lived in, grew up in a place called Reisterstown, which is straight up Reisterstown Road. There's a lot of arteries that come out of the city in all directions. And it's all served by the counties. The counties, a lot of them work downtown. Other people work downtown. But to talk about somebody coming in and ripping out plumbing, I can remember working downtown, doing projects and for investors and rehabbing them. But you can get really, you can have materials and things stolen on job sites no matter where you are. It could be in Baltimore City. It could be anywhere in the county. It could be in your next door, in your next door neighbor, in your neighborhood. I think the big, the key is that when you are rehabbing and things like that, that you protect your materials as much as you can. So you need to know that if you're going to set the outside air conditioning units, you don't do it until it's sold or you're ready to settle. So there are certain aspects. I mean, you want to try on any job site. You want to try and secure your site, secure your materials. I've built in the county and I had a lumber package where it was dropped off. And I go up to the job site and my two by fours are half gone. And it's like, what the heck? And this is in a fluent neighborhood that you're like, wait a minute. And it's a newer neighborhood. And the neighbors are using your studs to finish their basements because they didn't have it done by the builder. So you have to be careful. I'm going to give you guys a couple of resources. So Baltimore depends on your strategies. So if you want to invest in Baltimore City or anywhere, you need to be familiar with the government websites, zoning, planning and review. And I've always said to my investors and agents in an area where you're looking to either work or invest, be familiar with what's going on around town, what's coming down the pike. And the number one place to do that is in zoning plans and reviews, planning and reviews. Because a lot of times when people are planning something, when companies are planning on doing something, they may not always disclose who they are like underarm are going to poor Covington. But years ahead of time, they're going to start with a planning process and a planning review process. And they're going to have public hearings and planning review hearings that are leading up to, well, there's a 255 acre site in Port Covington that an underscored buyer is looking to do XYZ, planning a master business community. So if you started a zoning level and become very familiar with that, you're going to know where the pockets are that are up and coming. And everybody wants to do that. But I'm going to tell you guys something, these are things that can take years to develop. So if you're investing, if you're going to, if you're flip investing, or whether you're rental investing, you may be saying, Hey, this is something big is coming down the pike here in Port Covington. But the neighborhoods around it aren't seeing it yet, the growth. So you're going to have to wait. You're going to have to hope that it happens. You're going to have to wait for it to happen. The next thing would be once it's happening or once it's public, then there's a jump in prices, just like the stock market, right? And then you have to realize if you, you know, is that someplace that you want to be? But I want everybody to understand that there's opportunity at any time at any price level at any budget, depending on what it is you're willing to do for your money or your return. So what I mean by that is like Chris, you said, you know, there's a, I remember when a previous mayor had a dollar house, you know, you could go in, you could buy a house for a dollar, and then basically you fixed it up and you could rent it or you could, you know, whatever, flip it or what have you. But they were interested in putting tax maps back on though. I think the dollar housing, you had to keep it for a period of time, maybe it was 12 months and rent it. But number one, you need to look at, you know, what are you willing to do? And number two, what is it that you have in your pocket or that you have resources to invest? So I'm going to give you a couple, I'm going to give you a couple websites to check out planning.baltimorecity.gov. Okay, that's a big website. They've got interactive maps on that site. They got neighborhood profiles. They have developments that are in progress right now. You can kind of see where the phases are. And the other one's zoning.baltimorecity.gov. And zoning is going to tell you things like, you know, what can be done there. So, you know, being familiar with, you know, I always say when you're looking at real estate, you want highest and best use. So a lot of times when their agents are marketing something or sellers are selling something, they're marketing it as residential, but it could actually be a commercial shop. It could be a storefront. So, you know, you could better things like that. Colleges have always been a safe bet. So universities and colleges. So you've got some big colleges, you know, there's a lot of development going around in the Maryland Institute College of Arts, which is the MICA. I mean, there's a lot of development that's going around there. You know, we have a world renowned college and hospital, Johns Hopkins, that brings people in from all over the world, literally. And those areas have a tendency to be developed. And you know, and then the other thing is I'm going to give you another good one is livebaltimore.com. That is a great interactive map that you can go on and you can actually select whether you want quiet living, entertainment living, they've got, if you go up to it, I don't know what it is exactly anymore. But if you go to neighborhoods, I think is the tab, and it will drop down and we give you a whole lot like if you want water, things like that. So one is establish, you know, what you're willing to do for, you know, whether you want a turnkey investment, or whether you want, you know, a college, you know, student as a tenant, or whether you want, you know, a worker that is working at a major hospital, you know, kind of determine that and sort of plan it around there. Walk scores, big importance. I think they said they've done a study like 30% of the residents, I think in Baltimore City, and I could be rolling this, but I'm just trying to go by memory. But it's a pretty big percentage of people don't have automobiles. So, you know, you want to make sure that if you're, you know, want that walk score that it's close to places, jobs, shopping, schools, things like that, hospitals, because they're major employers. That's interesting. I've actually, I've used the, they have the interactive development map on the city's website. And it's a great tool because I heard, you know, just as a quick reference, I heard that they were tearing down all of this public housing not far from the Johns Hopkins campus. And I started looking in that area because if the city's tearing it down, that means there's probably a development plan already in place, right? So I said, boom, let me start entering addresses in that region and see, you know, what potential is there. I mean, what type of development is the city putting in, first of all, and then what are the surrounding neighborhoods and, you know, kind of buying, as I would say, just on the other side of the railroad tracks kind of mentality of if the development is already in place, it's already been funded, that might be a good area to start looking. But that brings me to another question. And before, and Chris, so let me just kind of tell you some of the areas, you know, that I like. So, you know, and I'm not saying that I dislike any area, but I tell you, the areas that I actively look myself, you know, or kind of keep tabs on is a place called Remington. So I don't know, you know, Remington, you know, is so years ago, Hamden, you know, was hot, right? Hamden, and you can tell trends, you know, people, you know, neighborhood pricing, I guess, is really determined by, you know, sort of like trends, you know, people flocking to that area for whatever reason, and it might be jobs, it might be whatever. But, you know, the hotter the real estate is the market speaks. So a lot of the value or the pricing is based on, and I always say real estate is what somebody's willing to pay for it, right? The value is realized on what somebody's willing to pay. So years ago, I mean, I was involved in that whole from 97 to 2005, you know, building like crazy, rehabbing like crazy. And then, you know, 2005, the headlines Baltimore Sun overhouse, you know, overpriced Baltimore Housing Market kind of slowed us down, shut us down. Then we had the crash of 2008, which everybody remembers. But we were doing a lot in Hamden and Remington was just kind of coming up. And it was kind of like on the outskirts of Hamden and people couldn't afford to be in Hamden, but they could afford to be in Remington, sort of what you're talking about, going outwards a little bit. And then when 08 happened, it just kind of shut it down and stopped because investors didn't have any money. They didn't know where the bottom was. So basically, that area is picked back up again and, you know, is really doing a lot of building development, a lot of neighborhood style, you know, shopping and restaurants and bars and things like that. The other ones up Upper Fells. So, you know, kind of Fells Point, you know, you have like the harbor, you've got like, you know, little Italy, you know, you know, what they say is Greek town and then you've got like Fells Point and then you can go on to Canton and sort of like a line, you know, down and around 83 South. But Upper Fells is really starting to come on too because people like that fells point, kind of lifestyle and living, but, you know, that's a little more affordable the further up you go. And then one that I'm really seeing come on really hot is Dundalk City. So, which is over by Broning Highway where the GM plant used to be, Amazon built there, you know, several, probably five years ago, something like that. They put a big, you know, facility in. It really worked out way better. I think they were planning on employing like a thousand employees. And I mean, it's just, I don't have to tell you, I mean, they've taken over that area and I actually have properties myself off of Broning Highway and currently we're doing some updating right now. We updated, we completely renovated on 10 years ago. And before Amazon came in and I could tell you, they've boosted us a lot. So anyway, so go ahead Chris, what were you going to say? No, I think it's interesting from your perspective of being your own brokerage as well as, you know, running your own real estate firm. You have the perspective of not only what the market's doing, because you're seeing active listings, you're seeing contracts, you're seeing this, but you're also seeing where the trends are going, right? So I'll lead into a question about sexuality is what defines you all differently than me just going on Zillow and picking out a real estate agent to work with, and not really understanding that a real estate agent does more than just help you buy and sell your house, just from experience. What does, what does sexuality and your agents, what do you offer that's different for someone like me as an investor? What products and services do you all offer that I couldn't get from going to one of the big brokerages in the area? And not saying that you couldn't get them, get what we offer from somewhere else, because you may, but I think the biggest thing with sexuality is, you know, I'm at the helm, right? I mean, I, you know, so and I don't mean that, you know, any other way than I'm very experienced as a contractor and investor myself. So, you know, I often say, I don't think there are a whole lot of brokers out there or managers that have torn houses down to the ground or built new homes or, you know, subdivided land. So for one, I think that that is, you know, so we understand the investor. We understand and that goes nationwide. It doesn't matter whether, you know, you're looking to invest in Florida or Oklahoma, it doesn't matter. You know, when we get involved, we want to make sure that you are set up with somebody that A is very hyper local, right, that understands that specific market that you're looking to invest or understands what your capabilities are so that they don't just sell you something to get you in trouble. You know, but, you know, understands, you know, how much money do you have? I always sit down with the consultation, whether it's in person or it's over Zoom or whatever. And I try and understand and guys, a lot of times I'll say like, okay, you want to get in a real estate investing, what do you have in cash? And they'll say, oh, I got a lot. Well, that doesn't work for me. You know, what's a lot? I mean, I see people that have hundreds of millions of dollars and I see people that have $10,000 or $5,000. I need to know. So whether you're dealing with me or somebody else, you want someone that is going to understand what it is that you need because you don't need somebody to sell you something that isn't going to work out because you'll never do it again. And, you know, you'll actually, you can get hurt. So not saying that I can prevent you from getting hurt at certain point, you're on your own, right? I mean, you have to make your own business decisions. But I think one of the things that we have to offer is that we understand the investor and we can advise you professionally from that aspect. And it also goes for buyers and sellers. You know, when we're walking through people's houses to list, you know, we can say, hey, this is about what this is going to cost you. These are the things that you should absolutely do. I was just on a listing appointment a week or so ago. And, you know, it was me and three agents, you know, they were interviewing, three total. And I walked around the outside of house and saw cracks in the foundation and suggested that they get a structural engineer to come in and certify that the foundation didn't need work. And I was the only one that picked that up, you know, so they were able to secure a letter from the engineer and that it was fine. And, you know, and that kind of put their mind at ease and things like that. So, you know, I think that's just it. It's not that you can't find competent advice out there, Chris, but real estate agents are they are a dime a dozen. And, you know, and a lot of times we go with the people that we know, instead of the people that we should. And, you know, and that's a tough conversation I have sometimes, because sometimes Aunt Lucy is not the agent that you need. Yeah, I mean, that's an interesting point because I said earlier in this conversation, I just went with someone that I knew. I'm not saying he was good, bad, or, you know, otherwise. He represented me perfectly fine. But in the in the process of that project, he lent zero advice to the project. And it's not a bad thing. But he helped me acquire it. He said, Well, Chris, you know what you're doing, you had the money to buy it and you're going to renovate it. And then I'll be your agent to list it. And that's pretty much his involvement. You know, he studied the market came up with a, you know, fair market price for us to list it. And that was his total involvement. He had no idea the scope of work and all the challenges that we had to deal with going through it. So I think it's important, you know, not selling sacks realty, but go with someone that at least knows what an investor is dealing with. Similar to what you mentioned about the cracks in the foundation, not that the other agents that were there didn't know about it. That just wasn't something that prompted their antenna to go up. But you being an investor as well, it said, Well, you guys might want to take a look at this because you could have a major issue. You're talking cracks in foundation, you might be underpinning your whole house before you can even do anything to it. And as you know, that's astronomically expensive to do. Or what you may end up doing, which is kind of worse yet, is just covering it up. Yeah, that too. And then, you know, you're a seller or you're a contractor and you cover something up. And then three months later, they realize it and they get somebody and say, Oh, yeah, this was covered up. And they can tell, they could tell if you put a band-aid on it. Next thing you know, now you're in a lawsuit or you're in trouble and you're again, experience is, you know, bad. I will say one thing though, Chris, no matter who you're working with, you know, and I'm going to speak to Marilyn and you guys, if you're wherever you're listening, you're going to have to determine what those laws or requirements are. But I'll give you some advice with Marilyn. So I work with a lot of investors and here in Maryland, we have a law that's called agency. And it's kind of tricky because what happens is in Maryland, we either represent the seller or we represent the buyer. And we are in the first brush, first conversation required to either let you know that even though we don't know the seller, we have to work for them because that's the way the goofy law is. Or you have to sign this document that says, I represent you. And most people are like, wait a minute, man, I don't want to be like exclusive to you. I don't even know who you are. And I'm like, well, I don't want to be exclusive to you either because I don't know. But anyway, so the way I like to work things, and this is just a recommendation and I don't know how other brokers do it. But the way I always like to do it is say, look, you need representation. And in Maryland, it's the law, right? That we represent either the seller or the buyer. So what I always say is, let's just make the representation agreement for the day we're going out looking at houses, you know, or a seven day period or let's outline an area or let's put specific houses that we're going to look at in place. But don't just say, well, we know enough to know that we're not going to turn you away because you don't want to give us exclusivity when you don't even know us. So we understand that if you're an investor, you might want to work with 10 different agents. And that's fine. But understand there is a way that you could still have representation here in Maryland and probably in other states too. And you may not even need agency representation in other states, I don't know. But but anyway, I just wanted to put that out there because a lot of people, well, they call me up and they're like, well, I don't want to be exclusive, you know, to you or be stuck with you. I have other agents that show me stuff too. There's ways around legal ways around, you know, working it out. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I even I'm under no contract with any real estate agent. I do have an active MLS list that comes to me in a specific market that I'm targeting to invest in. And I will obviously always use that agent because that's, you know, ethically for me, why wouldn't I? I mean, this this this agent, but he's also he is licensed in Maryland. He wants no part of Baltimore. So he has no problem. Even if I even if I create a search criteria, he's like, I don't want to do Baltimore. You can use my MLS search if you want to and I do. But he's like, if you find something, I don't care who you call. I just I don't have an interest in Baltimore, you know, investments. And I think it's just I think it's an honest way of doing business. I'm under no obligation. So, you know, similar to how you have to operate within the guidelines of a real estate agent and under your brokerage as an investor, you don't always have to. But I strongly recommend you do or you're going to you're going to piss off a lot of a lot of real estate agents. It's just there's no need for it, you know. Well, I always tell people once they use me, they're not going to use anybody else. That's a good way. Hey, look, you know, I say, I say that, you know, with with confidence because, you know, I help a lot of investors in whatever level it is that they're doing a lot of its commercial. But my point is, is go ahead, you know, use your whoever it is that you think you want to. But usually when they do a deal with me, they're like, man, can you check this out? I can do this other deal because, you know, they just want that kind of expertise. And I know that that sounds very arrogant. And I'm really not that way. I don't know. But it's just if you do a good job for people, they're going to come back. Yeah, no, I agree. I agree. Not not moving away from Baltimore City. But you mentioned something to me the other day when we were talking about land investment. And it threw an antenna up because I have I have other investors up and down the east coast here in the US that are heavily, heavily targeting land. Right. And what they're doing is something similar you mentioned earlier in our conversation is they go to these community meetings, these neighborhood commissions, these zoning hearings. And I'm sure they've mentioned it. It's boring as can be. You're going to be there for however long until your specific neighborhood comes up. But you're able to hear whether it be from the city council or the zoning commission, you're able to hear what the plans are in place. Right. From your experience, using like similar to what you said, using the Baltimore City website, are there and I'm not asking you for specific specific areas, but is that probably the one of the best ways to look for the land in the Baltimore suburb region is is studying what's going on, what the infrastructure or highways or maybe road expansion. Is that a good way of targeting investments there? Yeah, I mean, you know, a lot of the that's kind of like few and far between. So when you're looking for road expansions and things like that, I mean, most of what you see on, you know, that are traffic control devices like speed bumps. So you'll see a thousand like proposed traffic control device on such and such a street. Well, they're speed bumps or, you know, a median strip. I think the more important thing is depending on. So let's just take it from sort of like a sort of like a top down. So commercial real estate really sets the tone for most of what goes on, right. The big money comes in, they set up the commercial infrastructure. Shops job really jobs because there's a there's an economic factor that for every job that's created, it creates like 2.3 jobs, right. So what does that mean, you know, so that means and depending on the areas, it could mean up to seven jobs, right, based on one single hire, because people have to live in an area, they are, you know, shopping, they're, you know, getting dry cleaning done, they're hiring contractors or doing things. So then there's, you know, what we call, you know, like a one three or five minute drive time or one three or five mile drive time, right. And maybe it's not a drive time, maybe at the walk score, depending on how micro it is. But what happens is you want to pay attention to what's happening on a commercial level. So when you see things being injected in the neighborhood like, whoa, they just revitalized that shopping center or they just brought in this Class A tenant or they're building a new super Walmart, they're big things, even if you're not going to the zoning hearings, they're big indicators that can tell you, hey, something's up. So if you're out driving around, the big thing is, is understanding when you're talking about traffic devices like median strips in the commercial real estate, it could be the kiss of death, because if you have a four lane road and they're putting a median strip in the middle and people have to do a U turn to get to you, because there's such thing as drive way, there's a going to work side of the street. And there's a coming home side of the street in most neighborhoods. Right. So if you're a coffee bagel shop and you're on happen to be on the wrong side, the going home side of the street, but there's no median strip. And there's a center turn lane, you still might survive. Because people can turn right into your parking lot and get there and get their bagel and coffee. If you are on the wrong side of the street and they put in a median strip, you're done, because people aren't going up to a red light and then going all the way back around and going back around and happening. So, you know, in commercial real estate, if you're investing in commercial real estate, you really need to know who's your tenant going to be before you buy that building and what side of the street is it on, things like that exposure, traffic, exposure thing, you know, that type of thing. Chris, these community meetings now they're done a lot differently because through COVID they were done via Zoom. So you had to register like 24 hours ahead of time if you wanted to be a concerned citizen listening in on the hearing. But otherwise, when the, you know, they're hearing these, these neighborhood impact meetings or what have you, they're a lot of times specifically for one neighborhood or one topic or one development plan. You don't have to sit there and listen to 10 different things that are going on until your neighborhood comes up. It's specific a lot of times. So you'll see a sign posted, you know, like a zoning hearing or reclassification or whatever it is, they'll hand write it, they have to post on it and then, you know, they, it becomes public record. It's on the county or cities websites. The city, by the way, Baltimore City has done a fantastic job with updating their web portals. So before it was disastrous, it was a nightmare, but they are one of the best now. Actually, Baltimore County is behind the times, but Baltimore City, you can go on, you can see active permits, you can see active development projects and they're all up to date. And actually, Baltimore City is very efficient in permitting too. I mean, we have, you know, I just put in for some deck permits on some apartments and, you know, it was only a couple of days we had the permits and everything was done online. So, you know, Baltimore City's really has come ahead light years. I think that was in 2006, they revamped their website. Yeah, I had, I'm not 2006, 2016, sorry. Right. Yeah. I experienced that recently with a couple of contractors. They said that it was in, this is during COVID last summer, it was taking the county three to four weeks to get permits and it was taking the city three to four days. And they were just like, you do, they were, they were doing the permit from their phone at the job site. Exactly. Right. So it's from a, from an investor standpoint, that's refreshing. Yeah. Yeah. So I have one last question for you. As an investor, as a real estate agent with your own brokerage, I've been hearing from people all around the country about how the inner cities are seeing the flight of people out to the suburbs. And the reason being is people now we're still in COVID right now, people are, they want space, whether it be a single family home with a yard or, or, you know, anywhere where they have space, because we've been confined for over a year now, you know, limited, limited social interaction. We, you know, half of the restaurants are closed and might not reopen. You mentioned the other day, you drive along Pratt Street down by the harbor, it's a ghost town. And I know these businesses are suffering, but are you seeing that same influx that I've been hearing people moving out of the inner city environment and looking for space? We're not seeing it in Baltimore. We're really not seeing it in Baltimore. I mean, I've heard, you know, I have friends of mine that are in New York and certainly California, you know, it has some type of Exodus happening and people I hear landing in Tennessee and Nashville and Texas, Dallas, Fort Worth and are being, you know, populated by Californians, but we're not seeing it in Baltimore. I mean, I think there's a couple of things that are going on, Chris. One, I think people are very hopeful. They, especially now they're seeing that with the vaccine, they're seeing that, you know, people and the restrictions are being, you know, removed slowly, but surely I think that people, they love downtown. So especially, you know, when your buddies are downtown and, you know, you want the action or you want to be close to work, I think work is a very important, people who want to be close to where they work for many different reasons. So I don't think so. I don't see where, you know, there's an axis of the city in Baltimore, but what I do see is that there's nothing available to go anywhere. I mean, so we're seeing where there's a lack of housing or ready move in, ready housing in the counties. So that might have a little bit to do with it too, because if you want that extra, you know, land or whatever, you're, you know, tired of city life and you want more of a rural life, there's just not anything available. But what we're seeing as a result of the pandemic is the transition of what is desired space. So what we've seen is where open floor plans aren't, you know, they're kind of closing them up more and sectioning them off because they know that they're going to be working from home now more or they're, you know, afraid if there's another wave that they'll be schooling from home so that open floor plan doesn't, doesn't offer them the privacy that they need or the quiet that they need. And then we're really seeing where, excuse me, people are, they're really looking for the outside space, you know, whether it's the rooftop deck or whether it's the, you know, the fixed up narrow, if you're in the city yard, you know, kind of maximizing that space and putting in privacy panels and things that they can enjoy it more. Yeah, I mean, I've heard stories from around the country, but that's an interesting perspective that, you know, in the DC market where I live, it's the same thing per se. People aren't moving out, but they're finding it very hard to find anything. And whatever hits the market, I've seen in my immediate neighborhood, everything selling off market, like they're getting multiple offers, and they haven't even listed it yet. They literally agents are contacting each other saying, Hey, I have a listing coming up. If you want, you know, if you have buyers come take a look at it, and they're writing contracts, like at the steps, basically, so. It's happening. It's crazy, man. We're seeing the removal of appraisal contingencies, people wanting to spend $25,000, $30,000 more than appraisal. You mentioned recently that there was an article about there's basically, right now in today's time, there's more active real estate agents than there are available properties. And obviously coming out of COVID, I'm hopeful that will obviously change at some point. But at the same time, most agents really don't do a lot of transactions. They might be licensed, but I know a couple guys, they're licensed, they'll pull an MLS report for me, but they only do a couple transactions a year. And I think as an investor, there's a plus and a minus to a real estate agent. You're restricted to some point as to what you can tell me what you can provide. As an investor, I could pretty much ask a seller any question, and I'm not obligated or bonded to any license or anything. But I think real estate agents do play a valid part, not that you all aren't needed all the time, but it is helpful. I could probably go pull contacts, I could use prop stream and all these different softwares. But I think agent in a specific market is valuable because I would contact you about Baltimore County because that's where you actively work. You see this day in and day out. So why would I not reach out to an agent? Yeah, I appreciate that. I think we're needed. I think we're needed now more than ever because the internet sites are such a scary place to be. And if you're not going to get, it's garbage in, garbage out in algorithms. And I've seen, you mentioned Zillow. I've seen where Zillow, for instance, had a property at $599,000 as a zestimate. I listed it at 680, and they changed it to 680 for no other reason than I listed the price. So I think they are great portals for finding things. I mean, you're going to use my website to look for properties. No, you're going to use Zillow truly or something like that. But I think at the end of the day, it is good to get good, competent advice since it is a big transaction. And an investor, if you know what you're doing, you can do it without a sure. But also, if you found somebody that has a lot of experience with it, and by the way, I could help you in the Shenandoah Valley. So I can't sell it myself, but I have a good friend that is there that's very competent. So guys, if you're watching this, let me know where you're looking to buy or sell real estate. Certainly. I appreciate you. And guys, look, now we've said it throughout this whole conversation, get good advice, study your numbers, reach out to someone like a Todd or someone in your local market. Any agent I've ever reached out to, they'll pull a list for you whether you want comparables or actives or whatnot. And I do all sorts of other stuff, some wholesaling and whatnot. But I use the advice of an active agent all the time. Well, Todd, that was like a wealth of information. I really appreciate you coming on. Guys, we're going to put all of Todd's information, all of his links and website, all his contact info down in the video description. Don't forget, if we provided value to you guys today, don't forget to subscribe, smash that like button. Comment down below, both Todd and I will be checking comments regularly. We'd love to assist you guys in anything in our markets. So Todd, I really appreciate it. And we'll see all of you all real soon. Thanks so much, Chris. Really appreciate being on the show. And guys, like we both said throughout this entire podcast, educate yourself, find the information before you start spending money. So take care.