Podcast Transcription

Melina: Welcome to “Flippin’ Off,” a purpose-driven podcast about flipping houses and making a difference.

Melina: Okay. Hello, everybody. I’m Melina Boswell here, co-founder of New Wealth Advisors Club. In the studio today, we have the very own, our very own Tim Jackson.

Tim: Hi.

Melina: Kevinsito behind the camera. Kevinsito Castillo. We have Ernesto. I’m not gonna tell you what Ernesto does because then…anyway, I’m not gonna let you know that secret. Andrew Boswell.

Andrew: Hey, hey.

Melina: For the very first time making her debut, Ms. Adriana “Spoon” Uribe.

Adriana: Hey, guys.

Melina: Frank Luna.

Frank: Hello.

Melina: And Mr. Oscar Solares.

Oscar: Hi, Adriana.

Melina: So, we could probably do an entire podcast on mine and Spoon’s relationship, but if you’ve been around us for any length of time, you’ve heard us talk about Spoon. And maybe we’ll do a podcast someday and spill the beans on where Spoon got her name “Spoon.” It’s a shortened, right, nickname.

Andrew: Mm-hmm, it is.

Melina: Right? The long nickname is…

Andrew: Green Spoon.

Melina: Right. And Andrew definitely was part of the naming. And in case she ever tells anybody that it’s her American…

Man: Her Native American name.

Melina: …her Native American name, that’s a lie. It’s not true. So, today we thought it would be really good to talk about Airbnb stories. We thought we’d have story time today because we have so many great stories. If you’ve been listening to me, I’ve been talking about the shift in the market getting ready to take place, and as a result of the shifting in the market, our strategies change. And so, I am clear that we are going to start implementing new strategies which we will bring to the club in the form of new curriculum, right?

Man: Yes.

Melina: Yeah. So here’s what you should probably know. Melina comes up with ideas. We always say this about Melina. I’m shoot readying. And so, it’s not always easy to keep up with me. So I have ideas and then I start to want saying things and then I wanna…and so, Oscar actually makes it happen. So I’m very grateful for that. So I won’t ever teach a strategy that I haven’t proven myself, so that I can work out all the kinks and understand everything before I bring it to my students to implement. So Airbnb is definitely…and I say Airbnb, but it’s really short-term rental opportunities that are happening in the market that are going to become much more viable as the market begins to, or continues, I guess, to soften and then decline. So today, we have been doing that, by the way. So, each one of us have had some really cool experiences with short-term rentals. And so as we were talking about experiences, we thought it’d be really fun today to share some stories. And so we’re gonna start with…I think we’ll start with our very first, and I’m gonna say, like, “incident,” with our Airbnb in Riverside. So I think the first one was…we should name it. What should we name it? Guy in Boulder, boulder guy. Boulder guy. So…

Man: Bouldergeist.

Melina: Bouldergeist.

Man: I like boulder man.

Melina: Boulder man. Okay, so, Spoon, why don’t you share exactly what happened, if you don’t mind? Well, first of all, it’s important for you to know that we have cameras on the interior…on the exterior, each one of our doors, the front door and back door of our properties. And if you have any short-term rental that you’re advertising, you need to disclose that upfront, so when people are looking at an Airbnb, they know that there are cameras. So that’s point number one. Everything is done electronically, so anytime there’s any movement on the cameras, we get notifications. And then it’s recorded, which is really great. So you get to read these. Or not read, you get to watch the most amazing stories, and we laugh our heads off. So Spoon, why don’t you talk about boulder man?

Adriana: Boulder. Well, my two-week tenant just checked in. I was so happy, you know, to get a long-term in the short term. And he calls me and says, “You might wanna come down here because I just had to call the police. Some guy threw a rock through the window.” And I’m like, “You’ve got to be kidding me.” This is my Sunday off and I’m running down to this Airbnb again.

Melina: So then what did you do?

Adriana: On the way there, I’m just jetting down there. I call Oscar, and it’s like, okay, because I’m not boarding up a window. Like, something has to happen, and it’s not me. And I’m driving down the street and I see the guy because I’ve reviewed the video and…

Melina: So could you tell us about the video?

Man: Tell us about the video.

Melina: Tell us about the video you watched on your way.

Adriana: On the way, I’m watching this video going…I see this guy walking up with a boulder.

Man: It’s like it wasn’t a rock though.

Adriana: It wasn’t a rock, like, “Oh, I’m just gonna go pick up the rock on the side of the road.” Like, no, this is a boulder. I don’t know where it came from because we just had the landscaping done and there’s no rocks in the yard.

Man: He brought it with him.

Man: And it was, like, no easy feat. He put some effort into it.

[crosstalk 00:05:52].

Man: So this boulder, right…

Man: B-Y-O-B, bring your own boulder.

Man: …is the size of maybe an oversized football, borderline rugby ball, soccer ball type thing. It’s not like it’s this tiny rock.

Man: No, he’s struggling with it.

Man: It’s like he had to, like…he had to put some effort into this.

Man: Let’s put the video underway.

Melina: You guys wanna see the video? Because it’s…

Man: We have the video.

Man: Yeah, it’s spectacular.

Man: Yeah.

Man: Yeah.

Melina: So what does he do?

Oscar: Well, he put his back into it. You see on the video, he literally…he has this boulder, and he swings it back and you see him struggling with [crosstalk 00:06:32].

Man: It’s like a Strongman competition.

Man: Exactly what it was.

Oscar: It’s like a Strongman competition. Because the guy is scrawny, right? It’s a scrawny little guy with this boulder, and he tosses it through the window and all you hear is the impact. You see the camera shake because the wall shook, and then glass goes everywhere. And you hear the guy that just checked in…one of the guys that just checked in, just like yelling, right?

Woman: Yeah.

Oscar: What’d he say?

Adriana: He said, “What the…are you doing?”

Man: You know, the first thing…

Adriana: Yeah. The guy books it as soon as he notices that someone’s actually in the house, because it was vacant before…

Oscar: Yeah, he actually put his head through the window.

Adriana: Yeah, he, like, peeked in and realized, “Oh, this is not a vacant property anymore. I can’t sleep here anymore.”

Oscar: Where’s my boys at? Right? Yeah, no, it doesn’t work out anymore.

Adriana: Oh my God.

Oscar: So she calls me and I’m like, “Man, it’s Sunday, I’m just settling in.” I went to church, did the whole thing. I’m settling in, I’m getting ready to eat. I’m like, “Really? Are you kidding me right now?” So I told her back at my wife, like, “Hey, something went down at 10th street. I have to leave.” She’s like, “What…?” I was like, “I’ll send you the video later so you’ll understand.” So I throw all my tools in the car and I head out to meet up with her, but she beat me down to the city because she’s closer. But…

Adriana: But you beat me to the house.

Oscar: I definitely beat you. So when I got to the house, the Riverside PD was just pulling off. So I met the guy and, you know, cool guy, former military. And here’s the irony of it all, right? So these guys are…they travel the country to essentially hang out with police departments, to film them as throughout their day, and they were in town to go film San Bernardino PD and sheriff’s department at their headquarters. That’s what they do. So they travel the country and films…

Melina: This is our tenant?

Oscar: Yes, this is the tenant. To film and record the activities of the police departments. So I’m thinking, “Why weren’t your cameras out when our PD showed up, right?” But he was busy. He was concerned, right, obviously, for obvious reasons. They have a ton of equipment. So, yeah.

Melina: So anyway. So then you get there and you don’t see Spoon.

Oscar: I don’t see her. The guy checks out. He’s like, “I gotta go.” PD leaves. So I’m left with a broken window. And I get there, I double check the house, I clear it again to make sure that things are good. It’s like, man, glass everywhere.

Melina: So then you patch up the window.

Oscar: Glass on the couches, on the floor, on the carpet. There’s just glass everywhere.

Melina: Let’s go back. And Adriana, what’s happening for you? You’re driving down, you see the video, you see the guy. So then what?

Adriana: Off the freeway, almost there and I see the guy on the side of the road asking for some money. And I’m like, “Oh no, like, this is not your lucky day, buddy.”

Man: He was trying to raise money to pay for the window.

Adriana: Yeah. So I call RPD myself and I stay on the phone for 30 minutes until…I follow him through the streets of downtown Riverside.

Melina: Does he know you’re following him?

Adriana: I think towards the end he tried to lose me, but I’m a little faster than that. And…

Man: Was this a foot chase?

Man: You didn’t know…

Adriana: No, stayed in my car. This guy was just asking for money, stealing stuff off other people’s homeless carts and just running amuck in the city.

Man: He’s a homeless bully.

Adriana: Yes.

Melina: Seriously.

Adriana: And when the police actually catch up to me and him, they tell me, “Well, he’s thrown a rock in somebody else’s business today.” So I’m like, well…

Man: Was it the same rock?

Melina: He really is bouldergeist.

Adriana: So do you wanna press charges or do you want…? Yeah, sure, why not? Because this guy is not… Well, actually, I had to call the owner.

Oscar: Yeah, she calls me. It’s like, “Hey, I’m here with RPD. They’ve got the guy.” I’m like, “What the hell are you talking about? They got the guy, right?” She goes, “Yeah, I follow… Anyways, they wanna know if you wanna press charges.” So I said, “Well, what’s the value behind?” “Well, he’s homeless. He doesn’t have anything, so you can’t get anything from him.” I was like, true, but he did it to somebody else. Done, go. Just take him in. He’s gotta learn somewhat of a lesson, right?

Melina: Yeah. So, wait. So, Adriana, you actually got off the freeway, see the guy and then you just full-on pursue.

Adriana: Full on.

Melina: Full on. Just chase him down. And for how long did that pursuit take?

Adriana: Probably 30 minutes. The police are a little slow in Riverside.

Man: It’s just a boulder.

Melina: It was just a boulder. All right, so that’s the story of the bouldergeist. That’s a good one. So then we had another one.

Man: Yeah, we lost a tenant…

Man: Two weeks’ tenant.

Melina: Yeah. So yeah, that was a bummer. Oh, wait. And this property doesn’t have…it’s not just your normal windows, of course.

Man: Yeah, you can’t just get it reglazed because it’s a historical property. So these are custom made windows, somewhere to the tune of $800 a window. And now, right, it’s dual pane, wood-on-wood, dual-hung window, right. Anyway, so I’m still dealing with that problem of getting that piece replaced and all that. So it’s not like you just call your glass guy and say, “Hey, reglaze this for me. It’s all good.” It doesn’t work, especially for the integrity of the property and all that stuff.

Melina: Yeah. And so, bouldergeist went to the pokey for some time so he can learn his lesson, and we haven’t seen him since. So it’s a good thing. I don’t think he’s gonna come back now.

Adriana: And we kept the boulder on the porch.

Melina: On the porch, yep.

Man: Sitting on the porch, yeah.

Melina: I was thinking we’d decorate it to make it look really…

Man: We should date it.

Melina: We should date it.

Man: Get it laser cut.

Melina: Right. Okay. So then the next…one of my favorite stories is we have a tenant who actually as they’re checking in, Spoon says to me, “So our tenants just checked in and I have a feeling they’re either gonna have a party or…” Anyway. I’m not gonna even tell you what she said. The more you get to know Spoon, you’ll…you can guess what she said. So I said, “Why do you think that?” And she said, “Watch.” And so we watched the video and there’s two young girls, like, college age, cute, really cute, and one is inside and one is outside. So we are watching the girl outside walk, like, to the end of the…

Adriana: The front yard.

Melina: The front yard. And the girl inside screams. And so, then she steps back a few more feet and she screams again and they’re, like, communicating through you know, hand signals like, “Yeah, I can hear you.” “No, I can’t hear you.” So Spoon says, “They’re obviously testing the sound.” Right?

Man: Soundproofing of the property.

Melina: Soundproofing the property. She’s like, “So I don’t know what they’re gonna do.” I’m like, “Oh, great.” So…

Man: So what she said was, and I’m not gonna use the exact words, but it was…

Christian: Hi, this is Christian Rios. As many of you know, I have been a member of New Wealth Advisors Club for over seven years and got started when I was 17 years old, with absolutely no real estate experience. One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned from being in the industry is the need for authentic relationships. If you’re looking for an actual team locally in Southern California, with all the resources needed to close deals, register for one of our free workshops by visiting www.joinnwac.com. Thanks for listening to the “Flippin’ Off” podcast.

Man: So what she said was, and I’m not gonna use the exact words, but it was, “They’re either gonna have a party or they’re going to film something.”

Melina: Yeah, she said porno.

Man: Can we bleep that?

Melina: No. That’s what she said. Anyways, so, which made my…I was like, “What?” I don’t even understand that. So, all right. So anyway, so we watched them. So we’re like, okay, there is gonna be a party or something. So then what happened next, Spoon?

Adriana: What happened next?

Melina: Well, you were getting lots of notifications.

Adriana: Yes, my Arlo is hooked up to my Apple watch, and we’re just sitting there watching TV and my wrist is just going off. Like, I’m like, “Why? Who? What is happening right now?” Like, four people are supposed to be checking in, they should have already been there. Two are there. Okay, I could get one more notification that the rest are showing up. But they’re just trickling on through the night.

Melina: And you don’t look at every single one of them or anything?

Adriana: No.

Melina: No, not at all, don’t even care about it.

Adriana: Because yeah, there’s other cameras. They’re very sensitive. It’s like, all right, let’s see what’s happening, because I had the feeling they were having a party. And so, yeah, about 25 people trickled into the house…

Melina: That we saw.

Adriana: That we saw. Well, that’s who we saw leave. And I call the police to shut down the party.

Melina: Yeah, well, but first she says to me, “Oh look it, they’re having a party.” So we turn on the camera and we can hear. So the camera is outside on the porch and we can hear the “Dum, dum, dum, dum.” You just hear, like, music and you hear laughing and…

Man: Funny thing is, when the door opens, right, the volume goes up.

Woman: Yeah, the…

Man: As soon as the door opens, you hear all the cheering and everything going on, and then it goes down. And the volume just spikes up and down, every time the door opens. And every time the door opens, it’s an alert, right?

Melina: Yeah. So, yeah. So we call the cops…

Adriana: Yeah. Well, we have a conversation and go, “So do we do anything?” Well, it’s kinda loud. We don’t wanna bring attention to the house for any…we don’t wanna bother the neighbors and we don’t want anyone to say anything about us, that we’re bad people in a party house.

Melina: Right, exactly. And our instructions specifically say no parties. So, like, people know going in, no parties are allowed. Oh, wait. And if I remember correctly, this particular guest asked us if the only cameras in the property were outside.

Adriana: Yes, because they value their privacy. I do recall that. They did say that.

Melina: Yeah. So there’s…

Adriana: They asked where the cameras are because they really want privacy.

Melina: Yeah. So we listen in, and it’s really loud, so we just were like, “Oh gosh, what do you do?” Well, I guess we should probably just call the police and have them just, you know, like, noise ordinance kinda thing. So we call the police and give them the address, and then the dispatcher asks, “So, yeah, what’s your name and what your…where are you calling from?” So Spoon tells him, and he’s like, “Wait, you’re calling about a house party in Riverside, from Corona?”

Man: Man, they’re really loud.

Melina: Yeah. So then we hang up and Spoon looks at me and she goes, “They’re not gonna go, are they?” And I go, “Nope.” So then we wait and a few minutes later, I get on the app…no, maybe like an hour later.

Adriana: We let them go for an hour.

Melina: We let them go for another hour. And it was so loud and it was… Oh, and then people were in the front yard. That’s what we could see, and we were like, “Oh, here come the drunk kids, and it’s getting bad.” So, I send a note through the Airbnb app and I just said, “Hey, you need to shut down your party. We reviewed the video and like, you know, you gotta shut down your party.” And here’s the best part ever, here’s her reply, “Oh, I was having a potluck and a few friends came over and maybe there was too many. Sorry about that.”

Man: Sorry about the noise.

Adriana: Yeah. Before she sent that, you could…we were watching to see like, is she gonna really shut it down? Like, how soon is she gonna get this message? Who knows if she’s looking at her phone, it’s a party, and…

Melina: She’s a college student. She’s looking at her phone constantly.

Adriana: Oh yeah, right. And…

Melina: I’m confident in that.

Adriana: Three minutes later, you hear her, “All right, be quiet. You all gotta go. Like, it’s over. Like…”

Man: We’ve been shut down.

Adriana: Yeah. And then she sent the message, “Oh, we were just having a potluck.” And the last person to trickle out is like, has a big speaker and turntables, and I’m like, what kinda potluck is that?

Man: The DJ was the last one out. It’s awesome.

Melina: That was a good one. Yeah, so…

Adriana: But she cleaned the house, so…

Melina: She cleaned the house really well. It was so funny. Spoon said they didn’t even use the beds, like the beds weren’t even used. Somebody puked all over the bathroom, but they did a pretty good job of cleaning it up, so that was awesome. Yeah.

Man: College life.

Melina: Yeah, college life. What we learned is that, yeah, as we were watching, they left early the next morning, left the house in good condition, but that was so funny. I’ll never forget that potluck with a DJ. And then…

Man: You know, I wonder, if they’re entrepreneurs, I wonder if they charged admission. I figure, 150 bucks for the night…

Melina: Yeah.

Man: Ten bucks a head, and BYOB. Kinda works out.

Melina: Yeah. Well, actually…

Adriana: No, it wasn’t. They walked in with cases.

Melina: They did. They did. They actually left us a huge bottle of vodka, which was nice. They forgot about it, left it.

Man: They’re givers.

Melina: Yeah. So then probably this is the most recent story we have. Oh, my gosh. Well, Spoon, why don’t you tell the story of…what are we gonna name this guy? What should we name him?

Man: The packer?

Melina: The packer. All right, that’s good. The packer.

Man: I like that.

Adriana: You like that?

Man: I like that. He definitely was [inaudible 00:19:59].

Melina: So, Spoon went over to clean a house that we had rented it for one night, right?

Adriana: Mm-hmm.

Melina: And the next morning, Spoon goes over to get it cleaned up. And then, why don’t you tell about that?

Adriana: Well, I walk in and I immediately smell weed. It’s just like overwhelming smell of weed and I’m like…I message this guy. I’m like, “Dude, it reeks. Like, what happened?” He’s like, “Oh, well, you know, I went to the dispensary but I never smoked in the house.” And I’m like…

Melina: No, there was keywords in his message.

Adriana: For “personal use” was the keyword.

Melina: He said that in his message, and I was looking at it like, that’s such a weird thing to say. He said, “I did go to the dispensary to get some for personal use, but I didn’t smoke in the house.”

Adriana: It was like an alibi, right?

Melina: Yeah. So we’re like, what? Why do we care? So we didn’t care how much you had. We just cared that you smoked in the house. You’re not supposed to smoke in the house, and we can’t get the smell out. So then…yeah.

Adriana: I mean, people are gonna smoke whatever, in the backyard, but inside the house, you gotta be respectful of other guests that are coming.

Man: Right. So the key was, though, it didn’t smell like smoke. It wasn’t like someone had smoked in there. That was the thing about it, is he definitely didn’t smoke in the house.

Man: Okay. So hold on, hold on. So you walk in and it reeks like weed, but it wasn’t consumed weed. You know how much weed it takes to really fill a house with that aroma?

Man: Right, because it wasn’t just one room. If it was one room…

Man: I’m asking not like I know. I’m just asking.

Man: It’s a lot.

Adriana: I don’t know.

Man: Well, I think you just found out.

Adriana: Yeah, a lot, apparently, if you didn’t smoke it and it stinks terribly.

Melina: So then all of a sudden we get… So Andrew goes over there. Why did you go over there anyway?

Andrew: I actually went over there to go…no, to change the battery in the Arlos, in the cameras.

Melina: Oh, that’s right. That’s right. Yeah, Andrew went over there, and then I get a picture. And then describe what the picture was. Andrew, you describe what the picture was because I had an idea what I was looking at but…

Andrew: I mean, it was weed sitting on the ground. That’s…

Melina: But it was like a handful…

Andrew: Well, from the picture. The picture didn’t quite describe it. I mean, no, that’s exactly what it was. It was a handful. I mean…

Melina: Oh, is that a technical term? I don’t even know.

Andrew: That was the thing, the picture made it look like just a little bit, you know, just a little bit was sitting on there. Like, they maybe dropped something or whatever, you know, on their way out the door. It wasn’t that big of a deal, but when I got over there, I understood why the whole house smelled.

Melina: Tell us why.

Andrew: I mean, they left a significant amount. I mean…

Man: All right. So, for me, right, what I told him was like, okay, so they had so much weed that a significant amount left over didn’t really matter?

Andrew: Correct.

Adriana: Well, they were also in the house with their…I mean, you see them go out on the porch, they’re smoking. So yeah, their clothes still smell and they still lay in the beds and they still smell. Like, everything smells. I had to throw pillows away.

Man: But did they really lay in the beds?

Adriana: Yes, I threw pillows away.

Melina: Yeah, we had to throw pillows away.

Man: So they napped.

Melina: Yeah. Well, we don’t know that.

Man: I don’t know.

Man: They napped and had snacks.

Man: Were there Cheetos everywhere?

Melina: Right. So then we reviewed the video. Tell them what we saw when we reviewed the video.

Adriana: They’re checking in with large black trash bags that look rather easy to carry. They’re not, like, super heavy, but they are full. They’re packed to the gills.

Man: It sounds like an episode of “Narcos.”

Melina: And a duffel bag. They had a duffel bag too, right?

Adriana: Well, they walked out with duffel bags. They walked in with trash bags.

Man: So that’s the video that I watched, was them leaving at three something in the morning…

Adriana: 3:30.

Man: …and hands are literally full with trash bags. They have at least one duffel bag each, like, packed.

Man: And they had sprayed…they used…

Adriana: Yeah, it smelt like weed and Febreze in the house.

Man: I mean, we had four bottles of Febreze. We had full bottles of Febreze, and there was two of them sitting in the room that they had used all of it.

Man: They believed that marketing, right?

Man: They knew, right.

Melina: Oh, the woes of the Airbnb host. Oh my gosh, so many awesome stories. It’s like we’re living by… You know what, it’s like having a reality TV at your very fingertips that you get to participate in. It’s hilarious.

Man: It doesn’t ever seem to be a dull moment.

Melina: It’s always fun. We’re like, oh, what are our tenants gonna do? You know, we’re like, oh good, there’s just a family. Hallelujah. Thank God they have kids. That’s funny. Yeah. What’s that?

Man: Didn’t we have a family…?

Melina: And we have a family of Spotters…

Man: Don’t say that out loud.

Melina: Don’t say that out loud. Don’t ever say that. All right, so Frank has a cool story to tell. Well, this is a funny story. It’s not funny. I guess it is. Anyway, it’s an interesting story, for sure.

Man: Very interesting.

Melina: His short-term rental. So why don’t you share, Frank, about yours?

Frank: So we’ve had some guests, and ours is monitored a little bit more closely. I live very close. So yeah, we’ve had people smoking weed, living…you know, you can obviously tell they’re doing stuff that they shouldn’t have been doing, but nothing major. Well, you know, having the Airbnb, we have video cameras as well. And if it’s vacant, nobody’s staying there, we might have some issues, so we have the camera. So I can’t remember if it was…I think it was a Saturday, Friday or Saturday. We start getting some alerts and it’s about 3:00 in the afternoon. And I see this guy on the camera come by and he starts looking around the house, he’s looking at things and he’s wearing a hat. He looks pretty, I don’t know, almost…well, I don’t know what he was doing. He didn’t look super suspicious, because we’ve had people come by the house and just check it out. Well, he leaves and he comes back in different clothes, and then he steals a package off of the porch.

Melina: That’s bad.

Frank: So I’m like, oh man, he just stole something out of the porch. But you know what, I didn’t get the alert. I think I was at class. I think it was a day we had class or something. So I told Kathy, she went by the property while I was at class, and she saw that, yeah, there’s, you know…the package that I saw him pick up, there’s no other package there. So, I figure, all right, we’ll just report it as stolen or whatever to…I think it was like an Amazon package. So I get home, I go to bed and I’m a little bit worried because what if he comes back? I’m literally thinking that. So I had just fallen asleep. I think I was talking to Kathy. So, I wake up and Kathy is kinda hovering over me and she says, “The alarm went off. The alert. I got another alert from the video camera.” And I think it was right before midnight. It was like 11:35, 11:40, something like that. So I look at the camera, it’s the guy. He’s back, he’s got somebody with him. And I see him, he goes up to the door, he’s trying to look through the window. And meanwhile, I’m putting on my shoes and I’m getting ready to go over there.

So we’re watching the video camera, the alerts, to see if he’s moving, what is he doing, and we’re driving over there. And I decided, okay, he’s probably…I think he’s gonna break into the house to steal something. So, I don’t think I called the police until I got there and saw that his car was still in the front, and I didn’t know where he was on the video cameras. You can see that he walked away towards the side of the house, I assume to the back. And I think at that time I had an interior camera, I believe, and I didn’t see where he went. I don’t know what’s going on, but I pulled up on the car and I got the license plate and I immediately call RPD. I get them on the phone. I tell them what’s happening, give them the exact same play by play. They run the plates and they said, “Do you see them now?” I’m like, “I don’t know where they are.” So I reversed it to a side street where I could have a good view of the car in the front of the house. So all the time I’m on the phone with RPD. So they’re asking me, “Do you see him?” They keep on asking me that, “Do you see them?” “I don’t see nothing.” Well, how far away, they’re telling me, you know, it’s stolen. And then I see the helicopters arrive, circling over the house.

Melina: So that’s an important piece. She’s like…the dispatcher tells you that the car is stolen.

Frank: Yes, she did let me know that.

Man: And the ghetto bird’s in the air.

Melina: The ghetto bird is now in the air.

Frank: Yeah. She said units are on the way, and I see the helicopter get there first. They get there before the actual units. And right before they get there, I see them walking out. So she’s got his shirt on. He’s got no shirt, no shoes, and they’re walking to the car.

Melina: Did they go in the pool?

Frank: I think they got in the pool.

Man: It was just date night.

Frank: I think it was just date night. It was like…

Man: Took her to the resort.

Man: Went for a date night…

Melina: This is a nice house, by the way.

Man: …for a dip in the pool, in a stolen car. Not smart. I’m surprised they didn’t see the cameras. It’s not like they’re not clearly visible. This is just dumb.

Frank: So they pull away. I make a U-turn and go to a street that I, you know, will cut off the street they’re going to just so I can see where they’re going. And as soon as they’re walking out, I’m letting the dispatch know because I’m still on the phone with them. And she’s asking me, “Okay, what are they doing now? How about now? How about now?” So I’m just telling her…

Melina: So you’re just…they’re driving now and you’re following them?

Frank: Yeah, I didn’t exactly follow them. They went the direction their car was already pointed, and I knew if they had to exit, they’d have to make a left. So the street I was on circles back around to that street.

Melina: So that you’d meet ’em.

Frank: Yeah, and…

Melina: Like a real chase.

Frank: Well, I was just trying to give her updated. So they passed me, and after they pass me, I pulled onto the street that they just passed me on and I see the RPD coming one way and I’m talking to the lady saying, “All right, they just passed ’em. That was them.” So before that guy turns around, another unit comes and he’s the one that turns around and follows them. So I’m stopped right there. So he follows them and then the first car that passed me, he passes me, they drive down the street. And it’s a hill, so I don’t notice that they don’t turn right to go onto the main street, which is Alessandro. So I stayed there, and all of a sudden the car comes back. He turned around. It’s a little neighborhood, he must have got turned around. He passed me in circles in that area a couple of times, and the units, more cars, cop cars come. There must have been about, I don’t know, a dozen cop cars at some point.

Melina: Are you kidding? That’s a good sign because that’s as much action as Riverside gets.

Man: … bored.

Frank: Yeah. They got there super fast. I was very surprised because…I think he heard my car pull up and…

Melina: Got out of the pool.

Frank: Yeah, it’s an SUV, it’s kinda loud, and because the neighborhood is super quiet. I know if I’m in the back and there’s a car idling especially…I know they heard me because very soon after, this is when they left and they didn’t even take the time to put their shoes on. They left in a hurry. So they circled around and I guess they did finally find the exit to get out onto Alessandro, but they had already blocked the exit right there so they couldn’t leave the community.

Melina: Holy cow.

Frank: So they had them pulled over right there and…

Melina: They arrested them.

Frank: They arrested them. We had to go identify them.

Melina: Did he see your face?

Man: Did you have to give video?

Frank: No, they didn’t never asked…they never asked for the video. So whatever they did, like, the trespassing is nothing compared to the stolen vehicle. So yeah, they haven’t asked me for any information, they asked me for no video, nothing. They just pretty much went to jail for the stolen…

Man: So the trespassing is just what gave them away.

Man: That’s why the cops got there so quick, is because the car was stolen. Stolen vehicle there, they’re getting there quick. Stolen vehicle and breaking and entering at the same time, or trespassing.

Man: Note to self, stolen vehicle gets the activity.

Melina: Okay, guys, well, those are all fun stories. I think that we’ll talk more in one of our next podcasts about the details, like maybe the business behind Airbnb. Today was just more about the stories and the fun in it, and also, I guess, the nightmares, right? And so, we’ll talk more about the strategy, the money, and the details maybe at another podcast. But, hope you guys are having a great day. This is NWAC and we are flippin’ out “Flippin’ Off.”

I’m Melina Boswell, your host of the “Flippin’ Off Podcast.” I really hope you enjoyed it. If you did, we’d love for you to subscribe, give us a five-star rating and tell your friends all about us. You can find more episodes of the “Flippin’ Off Podcast” on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, or wherever else you like to listen to awesome podcasts like this. If you like what you’ve heard, we’d really appreciate it if you’d follow us on Facebook and Instagram and tell us the stories that you’d like to hear. Tim Jackson is our senior producer. Luke Jackson is our editor. Brothers. Josh Mauldin is our producer. Sound design by Frequency Factory. Our executive producer is Mind & Mill. This was all created by Dave Boswell for New Wealth Advisors Club.