Hey, we're the Moe Bros!

We’re two brothers who started buying beat-up houses nearly a decade ago, with a dream to build wealth for our families and make a real impact in our community. What began as a side hustle has grown into a full-blown business flipping houses, building a rental portfolio, and funding other investors through our hard money lending company.

Since then, we’ve been able to:

-- Flip 100+ homes in the St. Louis Area

-- Grow a rental portfolio to 68 properties

-- Raise over $2.7 million in private capital to fund other investors' deals

Every month in The Moe Bros Memo, we pull back the curtain on our journey: wins, lessons, numbers, deals, and everything in between.

Let's dive in!

The Rentals Aren’t Paying Yet… But We’re Still Buying

When we first started buying rentals, it felt like a simple math problem.

Each property we bought cash-flowed $3,000-5,000 per year. So if we each wanted to take home $10K/month ($240K total), that meant we needed 60 properties. Easy enough.

We were on our way. The path to “financial freedom” was clear. Then 2022 happened.

What Changed?

The Fed raised interest rates from 0% to 4.5% in a single year. 

That’s not a typo. That’s financial whiplash.

If you’re a real estate investor, you already know what that did: it obliterated cash flow.

Since the start of 2022, we’ve added 47 units to our portfolio—going from 21 to 68 total. But instead of making $4,000 per property like we used to, our new average is…

$97 per unit. Per YEAR.

That’s $8 a month (barely enough to pay for a Twitter membership).

Had interest rates stayed the same, we’d be financially free by now. Instead, we’re sitting here splitting a Costco membership and acting like it’s a company perk.

So what did we do?

Most People Hit Pause. We Hit the Gas.

Most of our friends stopped buying rentals.

Their portfolios have been on pause for three years, waiting for rates to come back down. We don’t blame them. If we were a logical people with a normal risk tolerance and a 401(k), we probably would’ve done the same.

We decided we weren’t going to pause.

Why?

Because we believe in three things absolutely:

Jesus Christ. Free speech. And long-term rentals. (And occasionally all three in one Facebook post that gets shadowbanned.)

We kept going.

We bought 47 more doors, even when they weren’t paying us.

We could’ve sold those 47 and walked away with $1-$2M (over 5 years). But instead, we’re sitting on that equity while cash flow limps along like TJ's NFL career (literally, torn achilles).

The Bet We’re Making

We’re in a long season of delayed gratification. It’s like intermittent fasting, but for your bank account—and instead of losing weight, you just lose your sanity for a while.

But here’s what we’re betting on:

1. We can weather the storm.
So far, we’ve been right. We found other ways to generate income, pay the bills, and still hang onto these properties.

2. Rates won’t stay this high forever.
Trump is putting massive pressure on Jerome Powell to cut rates. Powell hasn’t budged yet, probably because he doesn’t own 68 rentals. And because he obviously hates Trump more than he loves America.

But the labor market is softening at a rapid pace. At his last public appearance, Powell said “𝘞𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘧𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘬𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘥𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦.” The betting markets are now projecting two rate cuts before the end of the year (with the chances of a third rate cut surging). And Powell’s term ends in May 2026. You can bet the next Fed chair that Trump appoints will think 7% interest is a war crime.

We ran the numbers:

· If rates drop by 1% → we gain ~ $40K/year in cash flow.

· If they drop 2% → that’s ~ $80K/year.

· A 3% drop (unlikely, but not impossible) → ~ $120K/year.

· A 4% drop? We start wearing gold chains and buying yachts. (Kidding. Sort of.)

That's not profit today. That's potential. It's our bet that interest rates (for a lot of different reasons that we can talk about another time) can't stay high forever and are likely to drop soon, very soon.

Meanwhile, even at current rates, we're seeing $100k+ per year in principal pay down -- paid by our tenants. And based on the 4% historic appreciation in St. Louis, our portfolio gains $450k+ in annual equity growth (Compounding annually) on paper. And none of that shows up in our bank account. It sounds like a lot... but it can't buy groceries. It's all Monopoly money until we sell or refinance

So… Is It Worth It?

Could we be wrong?

Sure.

But we like our position.

Most people want results in 12 months. We’re okay waiting 12 years.

That’s not patience (we don't have any of that). That’s strategic stubbornness (we have plenty of that).

Even if rates never drop, we’re betting loan pay-down and appreciation will be worth it. And if rates do drop… we’re going to be sitting on a rental portfolio with real equity and actual, real-life cash flow. (The kind where you don't have to share a Netflix password)

Why We’re Still Buying

This is why we’re still buying through the pain. Through the Fed idiocy (let's be real, Trump is right. Rates should've dropped months ago). Through the noise.

We didn’t get into real estate to get rich quick. We got in to build something durable.

If you're in this game for the long haul, you can't only play when the wind’s at your back.

We’re not there yet. But we’re not quitting either.

Because the people who win in this game aren’t the ones who start fast.
They’re the ones who keep going even when it stops making sense.

We're stacking equity. We're stacking wisdom.
And when the tide turns—and it always does—we’ll be ready.

So no, the rentals aren’t paying us much today.
But they’re quietly building the kind of future we want to provide for our kids... if they earn it (more on that in a future newsletter.)

And for that?

We’ll keep buying.

This photo serves as evidence that if these two idiots (us, obviously) can jump into real estate and figure it out, any of you can too. So get to it. Also, both of us hate cigars (These are JUST cigars, neither of us have ever tried the other stuff) and we may have puked shortly after this photo was taken. Live and learn.