PODCAST · business
Live Let Thrive Podcast
by Live Let Thrive
Airbnb, PadSplit, Corporate Rentals, Arbitrage, Live Let Thrive covers all the creative ways to rent out your properties to maximize profits. We also get into buying properties in creative ways. Come along for the ride and have some fun along the way!
Episodes
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Cops Kicked In Our Airbnb Door for a Fugitive — What 10 Years of Hood Rentals Taught Us
Send us Fan Mail Steve was catching up with the guy who used to clean their old Dallas units when he got reminded of this one: the police called Steve asking about the guest in one of their Airbnbs just north of downtown, then kicked in the door and arrested her — she was on the run from a…
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Texas Rentals: 0 Deals Cash Flow at 7.625% — Arkansas Still Does With 5% Down
Send us Fan Mail Myka had Claude build a dashboard in about five minutes: every 2016-and-newer 3-bed, 2-bath-and-up house for sale in his Arkansas and Texas markets, run against HUD rents at a 7.625% rate. On the Arkansas side the screen is mostly green — a 2018-built four-bedroom in…
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$220 a Month on AI Makes $10K — But Kids Shouldn't Touch ChatGPT Until 18
Send us Fan Mail Myka pays $220 a month for AI — $200 for Claude, $20 for ChatGPT — and says it can bring in about $10,000 a month. The proof is specific: he photographed a page of Vivian Yip's The Frictionless MTR System, told Claude to apply her step-up minimum-stay method, and it pulled the...
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Buy a Quad, Live in One, Repeat — 20 Doors in 5 Years
Send us Fan Mail Myka's advice to anyone starting today: buy a two-bed one-bath quad, live in one unit for a year, then go buy the next one. Four units still falls under single-family financing. Do that five years straight and you're sitting on 20 doors before year six — and interest rates stop...
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PadSplit Changed the Rules Overnight — 22 Days of Empty Rent
Send us Fan Mail PadSplit changed its booking window to 30 days without warning hosts - Myka discovered a guest booked 22 days out, leaving a room empty with zero revenue. He and Steve break down what that means for cash flow when you're counting on six rents from one house, and why they're now...
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Airbnb Held His Payment — Then the Guests Vanished ($2,600 Gone)
Send us Fan Mail Airbnb held Steve's $2,600 payment on a 48-day booking, then cancelled the reservation after the seven-day hold window ended. When he arrived at the house, the guests had vanished—no cars, AC turned off, and 96 degrees inside. He suspects they were birth tourists who had a baby…
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DFW Is Getting Ugly: We’re Done With 1–2 Bedroom Arbitrage
Send us Fan Mail Myka and Steve announce they're done with 1-2 bedroom arbitrage in DFW after years of profitable operations. With the market shifting - houses sitting for months, price cuts everywhere, and midterm bookings drying up for small units - they're pivoting hard to purchasing 3-4…
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The Claude Dashboard That Runs My Entire Rental Business
Send us Fan Mail Myka walks through the custom Claude AI dashboard that manages his entire rental operation - from pulling live Price Labs data and calculating optimal Airbnb/Vrbo discounts based on local market conditions, to connecting with QuickBooks for P&L tracking and automating guest...
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PadSplit’s New Superhost Rules and a $15,000 Fire Alarm
Send us Fan Mail Steve discovers his poolman was in two car accidents, leaving three pools turning green with guests already checked in. At 100+ degrees on a Sunday, he grabs his scrub brushes and shocks all four pools himself - three rentals plus his own - spending hours in the heat to save the...
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The FIFA World Cup Flop — and Rents Down 30% (with Mikey B)
Send us Fan Mail The FIFA World Cup turned out to be a massive booking flop for DFW short-term rental hosts. Properties that were pricing at $3,000 per night in March dropped to barely 2x normal summer rates by game week, with hotels dumping room blocks and new inventory flooding the market. Mike...
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A $44,000 Insurance Claim and Two Creative Deals That Died
Send us Fan Mail Myka's $44,000 insurance claim from a water leak rewrote the rules on what property damage coverage can actually do - one call to USAA turned new flooring, fresh paint, and tile upgrades into a deductible of just two thousand dollars. The claim came while his Pad Split tenant...
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5 of 6 Rooms Full in a Week: My $25K PadSplit Build
Send us Fan Mail Steve furnishes a six-bedroom PadSplit for $3,000 using recycled Airbnb furniture, builds out two extra bedrooms and a loft for $12,000, and fills five of six rooms within a week of going live. Tenants include a computer engineer and working professionals choosing communal living...
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A Burst Pipe, a Denied Claim, and a Spare Key in the Cloud
Send us Fan Mail Steve faces a burst pipe at his Grand Prairie arbitrage that could cost thousands - and his tenant's Proper Insurance denies the claim because it's plumbing-related, the number one maintenance issue in rentals. Meanwhile, a Pad Split guest gets locked out on a Sunday night when...
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Vending Machines on a 9–5: “No Card Reader, You Lose 70%”
Send us Fan Mail Matthew Thompson runs 42 vending machines across Dallas-Fort Worth and shares the hard numbers behind the business. Without a card reader, you lose 70% of potential sales - cash-only machines are leaving money on the table. He breaks down the real costs: machines run…
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Health Insurance Is the Only Reason I Haven’t Quit My Job
Send us Fan Mail $600 a month through the job. About $1,600 a month buying it himself. That $1,000 difference is the entire reason Steve is still clocking in three days a week — and in this episode he does the math out loud on whether it is worth staying. The answer he lands on: one cheap C-class...
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I Fired My $200 PMS and Run Everything on $40 of AI
Send us Fan Mail Myka replaced his $200-a-month property management software with $40 in AI subscriptions - Claude and ChatGPT - that now handle pricing, calendar syncing, and operations, pulling $5,000 in new bookings in the first week and a half. He feeds Claude his PriceLabs market data and it...
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"Dalaska" Cold, Pungent PadSplits, & the Austin Real Estate Crash
Send us Fan Mail Myka details evicting a tenant who left behind a 'pungent' body-odour smell requiring Lysol, Febreze plugins, and an ozone machine to clear. The room turnover cost him a mattress protector and hours of cleaning, but he collected five other rent streams during the vacancy -...
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Vending Machines in Your PadSplit - and the $550K Crash Pad Near DFW
Send us Fan Mail Steve returns from a two-week Mexico trip with a business idea sparked by a third-world barbershop upselling drinks, chips, and extensions - and asks if vending machines could work in his PadSplits. Stevie points to his friend doing six figures with hospital vending contracts…
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Pivoting for 2026: Why I’m Stepping Back From STRs and Refocusing on Long-Term Wealth
Send us Fan Mail Myka announces a major pivot away from short-term and midterm rentals for 2026, driven by slow holiday bookings, rising overhead costs, and burnout from the operational demands of managing STRs in a rural Arkansas market. She's shifting to long-term rentals while strategically...
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Stevie Stacks 2025 Recap: From Airbnb Arbitrage to PadSplit Pro
Send us Fan Mail Stevie Stacks bought three houses in 2025 - one with a DSCR loan requiring 20% down, and two seller-financed deals with just 6% and 10% down. He converted two properties into six-bedroom PadSplits, pulling cash out first but learning the hard way that appraisers flag unusual...
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The $80,000 STR Tax Hack & The Michael Jordan Gamble
Send us Fan Mail Steve shares his 1996 story of flying standby to Utah on a whim, scoring a $50 ticket to Michael Jordan's final shot as a Bull in Game 6, and partying with Bulls players afterward - all while everyone said it couldn't be done. The story ties into the hosts' philosophy: when you...
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World Cup Hype vs. Reality - What a First PadSplit Actually Taught Us
Send us Fan Mail Steve's friend David unexpectedly showed up during a corporate housing tour - the adjuster's clients arrived for a self-tour while David was grabbing items from the garage. Instead of disaster, David's people skills saved the day: he charmed the couple, they loved the house, and...
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Crazy PadSplit Tenant Stories & Why We’re Ditching Short-Term Rentals
Send us Fan Mail Myka makes $30,000 per month from a single halfway house in California - eight rooms with bunk beds - and explains why he's considering leaving short-term rentals entirely for long-term cash flow. The transition would simplify operations and eliminate constant turnover headaches,...
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PadSplit Tenant Nightmare: What They Don’t Tell You
Send us Fan Mail Steve recounts evicting a violent PadSplit tenant who kicked through cabinets, slashed another resident's tire, shattered a front-door window, and pounded on a roommate's door hard enough to pop it open - all within weeks of move-in. The 24-year-old Amazon worker showed red flags...
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Pad Splits, Airbnb Fee Hikes, and Tax Savings Explained
Send us Fan Mail Steve's C-class Arlington house is pulling $4,350/month as a six-bedroom PadSplit - over $2,800 clear above the mortgage. He walks through the math on trash removal, utility absorption, and why cheap cleaners cost him a shut-down listing when one flaked during high season. Myka...
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House Hacking 2.0, PadSplit Profits & AI Agents Making $$$
Send us Fan Mail Steve announces he's converting his primary residence back into a house hack after the AC broke, planning to rent two bedrooms upstairs via Airbnb or Pad Split at $1,100+ per room while the family consolidates into the master. He's also turning his Arlington four-bedroom into a...
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First PadSplit Property - $700 Per Room, Three Tenants in Two Weeks
Send us Fan Mail Steve launches his first Pad Split property in Arlington and shares early wins and challenges: three rooms rented at $700/month in two weeks, a hot water heater repair, and one tenant who called the police on maintenance. He's sourcing additional tenants through Furnished Finder...
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AI Hacks, Airbnb Warnings & Duplex Wins: Why It’s Time to Buy Smarter
Send us Fan Mail Myka reports closing on a three-bed, two-bath duplex for under budget after Amazon Prime Day slashed their furnishing costs by 40%. The episode covers why she walked away from arbitrage in favor of ownership, how deep-search AI can pull comps in public-disclosure states like...
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Mastering Real Estate Cash Flow with Mid-Term Rentals, Tax Strategies, and Market Insights
Send us Fan Mail Myka breaks down a duplex deal that cash flows $1,100 a month long-term at $1,800 mortgage - rare in Texas markets where property taxes kill most cash flow. He explains why investors priced out of appreciation plays should consider the Deep South and Midwest, where single-family...
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How to Win at Rental Arbitrage: Practical Tips, Tough Lessons & Life Reflections
Send us Fan Mail Stevie Stacks reflects on loss and business lessons after the recent death of his cousin. He speaks candidly about the importance of supporting your spouse's entrepreneurial dreams, the value of sleep and mental health, and why he might finally leave his day job after 27 years.…
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Owner Financing, STR Laws, Creative Funding, and Overcoming Fear in Real Estate Investing
Send us Fan Mail On this episode of Live Let Thrive, hosts Steve and Myka dive deep into creative ways to launch and grow your real estate or side hustle—even if you're low on cash. From using rental deposits to furnish a unit, to negotiating smart owner-finance deals, to overcoming analysis...
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Real Talk on Real Estate: Bookkeeping, Loans, and Saying No to Slumlords
Send us Fan Mail Myka and Stevie Stacks warn listeners about a new squatter tactic: pressuring arbitrage hosts into signing short-term leases, then refusing to pay. One Dallas operator lost control after signing a two-month lease with weekly payments that never arrived. Private security couldn't...
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1st of the Month Stress. Duplex or Triplex? Timeshare Arbitrages
Send us Fan Mail Steve closes an owner-finance deal on a four-bed in Euless - just 6% down and 6% interest - while juggling three unfurnished properties and realizing he's hit a wall on bandwidth. Rather than furnish every house himself, he pitches an arbitrage deal to fellow investor Susanna...
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Add Bedrooms, Hack Houses, Owner Finance, Virtually Stage
Send us Fan Mail Steve converts a four-bedroom house to six rooms for Pad Split by splitting the dining and kitchen space, while adding a fourth bedroom to another property by walling off the open-concept living area - both moves targeting corporate rentals and higher cash flow. He's analyzing a...
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Provide More, Charge More: Ethernet in Every Room & PadSplit Common Areas
Send us Fan Mail Myka breaks down the Texas Rangers stadium experience - $60 parking, $15 beers, $20 hot dogs - and explains why people gladly pay premium prices when you deliver a world-class experience. The lesson translates directly to short-term rentals: provide more value, charge more rent,...
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Renting your home by the room on PadSplit with Justin King
Send us Fan Mail Justin King from PadSplit walks through the room-rental model: 19,000 rooms under management at 90% occupancy, 1.2% eviction rate, and weekly rent collections hitting 98%. The platform screens tenants, calculates late fees automatically, and issues notices to vacate once a member...
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Pad Split, Home Warranties, World Cup, April Slowdown
Send us Fan Mail Steve schedules a call with PadSplit after hearing the CEO on Brandon Turner's podcast. The model converts houses into 7-8 bedrooms rented by the room, with tenants paying weekly and PadSplit managing evictions through an LLC structure. Steve's hesitation centres on eviction risk...
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Big money on VRBO & Booking.com? Why AirDNA is wrong. Higher Housing Prices, Lower Interest Rates Coming?
Send us Fan Mail Myka and Stevie Stacks dig into Trump's tariff shakeup and what it means for real estate investors: new construction costs about to skyrocket, the workforce getting deported, and housing prices heading up while interest rates might drop. They predict a run on existing homes and...
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Government Contracts, Houses w Pools, Already Furnished Arbitrages, Tariffs = Staycations?
Send us Fan Mail Myka and Stevie Stacks return after a hiatus to discuss their latest moves: Myka is 1031 exchanging single-family homes into brand-new multifamily properties while exploring government contracting with capability statements. Steve scored a Grand Prairie house with a pool for…
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Four Months Fighting an Airbnb Squatter - Two Court Dates and Still There
Send us Fan Mail Steve's Airbnb tenant refused to leave after a short booking, claimed tenancy rights past 30 days, and forced a months-long eviction battle - still occupying the unit four months later despite two court dates. The squatter had an ankle monitor and violent criminal history, while...
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Setting up Airbnbs for Cheap, Sky High Rents, Too Many Apps, Corporate Focus
Send us Fan Mail Stevie Stacks breaks down the numbers on his 40+ properties, revealing one bill that hit $863 nobody caught and why over $3,000 a month in forgotten app subscriptions nearly killed the business. After a credit card fraud forced him to change payment info across every utility...
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Dead Cats, Cancelling Bad Guests, Appliance Rentals, Quick Arbitrage Setup
Send us Fan Mail Steve tackles a first-time crisis - a dead cat decomposing at a Grand Prairie arbitrage - and discovers the guest runs a mobile coffee shop contracted by Lowe's to recruit construction workers nationwide. He shares the $51/month washer-dryer rental model he's testing after...
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Get Bookings/Reviews, Maintenance Woes, Seller Finance, Cleaners
Send us Fan Mail Steve gets a corporate guest confused about checkout dates at his Richardson arbitrage - they sent cleaners away thinking they had one more day. The miscommunication led to a rushed handoff with the guest's own cleaners doing subpar work, but the incoming renter was remarkably...
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Creating Extra Bedrooms, Selling Arbitrages, Turo vs Rental Car Companies
Send us Fan Mail Steve installs barn doors to create a fourth bedroom in an arbitrage property for $1,040, immediately seeing increased bookings and higher rates from corporate clients seeking three-kid family setups. The upgrade is portable - the handyman can uninstall and reinstall the doors at…
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Who's Responsible for Arbitrage Maintenance? Landlord? Host? Airbnb?
Send us Fan Mail Stevie Stacks wrestles with a $640 ceiling repair at an arbitrage property after a tenant failed to report a weeks-long leak. Rather than alert the landlord - who previously blamed him for a winter freeze pipe burst and an electrical issue - he pays out of pocket to protect a...
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Selling Dallas Units for $500 Each - A $3,000 Settlement and a Fugitive in the Shower
Send us Fan Mail Steve offloads Dallas one-bedroom units for $500 each to refocus on Fort Worth midterm and corporate rentals, while navigating a wave of challenges: a $3,000 settlement after a client pulled a booked property, a tenant two months behind on rent, a fugitive arrested in one of his...
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The 7 Stages of buying a Short Term Rental!
Send us Fan Mail Steve closes on a five-bedroom Grand Prairie house with partner Cheryl for $385k - a property initially listed at $425k that sat unsold through the holidays. He shares his method of offering full asking price while negotiating $15k back toward closing to reduce the 20% down...
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When a Slumlord owns your Arbitrage, Evolve Sucks, Linked In, Hood Food!
Send us Fan Mail Myka and Steve reunite after a break to tackle the gritty reality of arbitrage. Steve's dealing with a slumlord landlord who won't fix faulty wiring - a tree fell, insurance won't cover it, and the house sits vacant while rent keeps coming due. They vent about unresponsive…
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Going Corporate-First to Cut 95% of the Chaos - When Busy Season Breaks the Team
Send us Fan Mail Steve confronts the brutal reality of summer busy season: three family trips squeezed between exploding maintenance costs, lost key fobs eating $260 in upfront payments, and a VA team stretched thin enough to finally crack. When a cleaning crew no-shows four times because guests...
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STR Accountant, Host, MTR Specialist, Hyre Car Expert, Teonna Dorsey!
Send us Fan Mail Teonna Dorsey, an Atlanta-based accountant and mid-term rental operator, explains how she left Airbnb behind two years ago to run six corporate housing units exclusively through direct bookings - with one first-floor one-bedroom earning as much as her two-bedrooms by staying...
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
Airbnb, PadSplit, Corporate Rentals, Arbitrage, Live Let Thrive covers all the creative ways to rent out your properties to maximize profits. We also get into buying properties in creative ways. Come along for the ride and have some fun along the way!
HOSTED BY
Live Let Thrive
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Live Let Thrive Podcast have?
Live Let Thrive Podcast currently has 334 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Live Let Thrive Podcast about?
Airbnb, PadSplit, Corporate Rentals, Arbitrage, Live Let Thrive covers all the creative ways to rent out your properties to maximize profits. We also get into buying properties in creative ways. Come along for the ride and have some fun along the way!
How often does Live Let Thrive Podcast release new episodes?
Live Let Thrive Podcast publishes regularly with 334 episodes available. Check the episode list for the typical release schedule.
Where can I listen to Live Let Thrive Podcast?
You can listen to Live Let Thrive Podcast on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Live Let Thrive Podcast?
Live Let Thrive Podcast is created and hosted by Live Let Thrive.
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