Mike Kelso is my guest on the podcast. He’s been a mortgage professional in the Phoenix area since 2005.

We discuss whether one should own or rent in today’s real estate environment. We also discuss market predictions for the next 3-5 years.

We share our favorite memory when we were baseball teammates at Nicholls State University. I tell a story about playing JUCO Basebal—where there were more people on the field than in the stands— to playing in my first Division I series at Ole Miss.

Mike’s best NCAA memory was hitting a homerun with a new batting stance, then scoring even bigger when he met his now-wife—they have four kids. He talks about dealing with foreclosure during The Great Recession, his transformation to being the spiritual leader of his family, and how his faith has impacted his journey.

Other topics we discuss:

• Real estate appreciation rates in the next 5 years

• How politics might influence investor returns

• Why timing the market is a bad idea

• “Liar loans”

• Thinking long-term in sales

• Kobe Bryant’s life & legacy

• Greatness: innate or learned?

• How sports helped Brad achieve F.I.R.E.

• Placing a value on your time & skillsets

• Time spent developing professional skills vs time spent being a dad

• How to become an inspiration to your children

• Using visualization & The Secret to help achieve your dreams

• Becoming Super Dad

Questions asked:

• What do you think about the appreciation rate [projected] not being much more than inflation?

• Would you make a decision to purchase a property based on 5-year projected appreciation rates in a particular market?

• Follow up: If you had to base a decision on whether to invest for the next few years on 75 variables, would . . . [political stats/info you cited] . . . be one of your criterion?

• Are you a “Dave Ramsey guy?”

• Can you talk about your faith and what it means to you?

Fun questions:

• What is your favorite personal development book?

• What stands out as something you wish that you had known sooner [10 or 15 years ago]?

• What do you hope to tell your grandkids about your 40s?

• What would you do if somebody dropped $1 million in your lap tomorrow?