Just Start Real Estate with Mike Simmons

From Bigger Pockets to a Better Life with Brandon Turner Join us as we dive into the incredible journey of real estate investor and podcaster Brandon Turner. Discover how he went from buying a deal a year to building a portfolio of over 13,000 units, and learn the strategies and mindset shifts that fueled his remarkable success. Table of Contents Brandon's Entrepreneurial Awakening Surrounding Yourself with the Right People Blowing Past a 1,000-Unit Goal Why Mobile Home Parks? Avoiding Problematic States and Markets Transitioning from Biggerpockets to The Better Life Podcast The Importance of In-Person Podcasting The Devastating Lahaina Fire and its Impact Redefining Success: Prioritizing Family and Happiness Ttance of Adaptable Goals Lessons Learned from Leaving Biggerpockets Educating Children on Alternative Paths in Life Brandon's Entrepreneurial Awakening It all started with a realization at Joe Ferrellus' best ever conference in Denver. Surrounded by successful real estate investors, I came face to face with my untapped potential. I was only buying a deal a year, barely scratching the surface of what I could achieve. It hit me that I could build a big business, have a team, and aim for something much bigger. Surrounding Yourself with the Right People Surrounding yourself with successful and motivated individuals can have a profound impact on your own success. When I started associating with people who were achieving greater real estate volume, I began to see new possibilities and opportunities for growth. Through engaging with the BiggerPockets podcast and interacting with accomplished investors like Grant Cardone and Chris Clothier, I gained valuable insights into scaling businesses and leveraging resources effectively. Learning from Successful Individuals Observing individuals who were handling significantly larger real estate portfolios than mine helped me realize that scalability doesn't necessarily equate to working more hours. Engaging with people accomplishing substantial deals highlighted the importance of strategic delegation and building efficient teams. Witnessing others achieve exponential growth while working fewer hours shifted my perspective on the relationship between effort and success. The Power of Association By surrounding myself with ambitious and accomplished individuals, I was able to challenge my own limitations and expand my vision of what was achievable. This environment of success and ambition propelled me to surpass my initial goals and achieve remarkable growth in a relatively short period. Blowing Past a 1,000-Unit Goal After making the decision to go all in on mobile home park investing, I set a goal to acquire 1,000 units within a year. This ambitious target pushed me to take massive action and think outside the box to achieve rapid growth. Strategic Acquisition Tactics Implementing creative financing strategies enabled me to acquire properties with minimal capital and maximize returns. Utilizing innovative negotiation techniques allowed me to secure deals that surpassed my initial expectations. Forming strategic partnerships and leveraging my network played a pivotal role in rapidly scaling my portfolio. Building a High-Performing Team Assembling a dedicated and skilled team was crucial in managing a large number of properties effectively and ensuring seamless operations. By delegating responsibilities and empowering my team, we were able to surpass the 1,000-unit milestone with remarkable efficiency. Why Mobile Home Parks? Investing in mobile home parks offers unique advantages and opportunities that make it an appealing venture for real estate investors. The following factors highlight the reasons behind the strategic choice of mobile home park investments: Scalability and Efficiency Mobile home park investments provide the potential for rapid scalability and efficient management, allowing investors to oversee a large number of units with relative ease. Operating larger properties can often be more streamlined and manageable, leveraging economies of scale to maximize returns and minimize operational complexities. With the ability to oversee numerous units within a single property, mobile home park investments offer a compelling avenue for achieving substantial growth and profitability. Strategic Property Selection Choosing mobile home parks in areas with favorable population demographics and strong tenant demand can significantly enhance occupancy rates and overall investment performance. Avoiding properties with potential challenges such as septic tanks and unfavorable landlord regulations in certain states can mitigate operational hurdles and optimize investment outcomes. Focusing on larger mobile home park properties in well-populated areas can offer a more favorable investment landscape, facilitating improved tenant acquisition and retention. Avoiding Problematic States and Markets When it comes to real estate investments, avoiding problematic states and markets is crucial for maintaining a streamlined and efficient portfolio. By steering clear of regions with challenging regulations and governmental barriers, investors can mitigate operational hurdles and optimize their investment outcomes. Strategic Market Selection Choosing markets with favorable landlord regulations and supportive governmental policies can facilitate smoother property management and tenant relations. Avoiding states with stringent eviction processes and prolonged legal procedures can help investors steer clear of potential challenges associated with tenant disputes and occupancy issues. Focusing on markets with a proactive approach to low-income housing support and tenant rights can create a more conducive environment for sustainable and profitable real estate investments. Transitioning from Biggerpockets to The Better Life Podcast After my nine-year stint with the BiggerPockets podcast, I made the decision to transition to The Better Life podcast. This shift was driven by my entrepreneurial spirit and the desire to have autonomy over my schedule and endeavors. While BiggerPockets was an invaluable experience, I craved the freedom to chart my own course and explore new opportunities. Embracing Entrepreneurial Independence As an entrepreneur at heart, I value the ability to own my time, schedule, and business ventures. The decision to leave BiggerPockets stemmed from my desire to have full ownership and control over my podcasting journey, aligning with my personal and professional aspirations. The Birth of The Better Life Podcast The inception of The Better Life podcast was inspired by a song created by my friends, Derek and Mark. Their music, coupled with my ambition to expand beyond real estate, fueled the creation of a platform that delves into a diverse range of topics and interviews. This transition allowed me to broaden my scope and connect with a wider audience while still maintaining a strong focus on real estate. The Importance of In-Person Podcasting When it comes to podcasting, the dynamics of in-person recording can significantly enhance the overall experience for both hosts and guests. The physical presence creates a heightened sense of importance and accountability, leading to more profound and authentic conversations. The Devastating Lahaina Fire and its Impact The Lahaina fire had a devastating impact on the town, resulting in the loss of numerous businesses and homes. The aftermath of the fire left a significant void in the community, with many individuals and families grappling with the repercussions of the destructive blaze. The Heartbreaking Toll The fire claimed the lives of approximately 100 people, a tragedy that has deeply affected the entire community. While the outcome was better than initially feared, the loss of lives and the destruction of the town's downtown area remains a poignant reminder of the catastrophic event. Navigating the Aftermath Despite the devastation, the resilience and unity of the community have been evident as individuals come together to support one another and rebuild what was lost. Efforts to address the aftermath of the fire have been ongoing, with individuals and organizations collaborating to provide aid and assistance to those affected by the disaster. The impact of the Lahaina fire serves as a stark reminder of the importance of preparedness and community support in the face of natural disasters. Redefining Success: Prioritizing Family and Happiness As I continue to navigate through the complexities of business and life, my perspective on success has undergone a significant transformation. While ambitious goals and professional achievements have always been integral to my journey, the paramount importance of family and personal happiness has become increasingly evident. Embracing Familial Priorities Amidst the pursuit of entrepreneurial endeavors and professional growth, the invaluable role of family has emerged as a cornerstone of my priorities. The joy and fulfillment derived from spending quality time with my wife and children have become non-negotiable aspects of my life, shaping my decisions and actions in profound ways. Reevaluating Work-Life Dynamics Recognizing the perpetual balancing act between work and personal life, I have adopted a deliberate approach to redefining success. Embracing the notion that happiness and contentment are the ultimate measures of achievement, I have embarked on a journey to recalibrate my professional commitments in alignment with my personal values. Setting boundaries and constraints on my time has empowered me to prioritize family engagements and meaningful experiences, fostering a harmonious equilibrium between work and personal life. By reassessing the significance of my professional engagements and endeavoring to derive genuine fulfillment from each pursuit, I have cultivated a renewed sense of purpose and satisfaction. Embracing a mindset that values holistic well-being and emotional fulfillment has catalyzed a profound shift in my approach to decision-making, enabling me to prioritize endeavors that resonate with my core values and aspirations. Implementing the "Better Life Wheel" for Balanced Goal-Setting One powerful tool that has significantly impacted my life is the "Better Life Wheel," a comprehensive approach to evaluating and setting goals across various aspects of life. It's a simple yet effective method that provides a holistic perspective on personal growth and fulfillment. Assessing Ten Key Areas The "Better Life Wheel" encompasses ten fundamental areas, including health and fitness, finances, career, parenting, relationships, environment, spirituality, personal growth, and more. Each of these aspects plays a crucial role in shaping a fulfilling and balanced life. Rating and Prioritizing Using a scale of one to ten, I assess my current satisfaction and progress in each area, shading a pie chart to visually represent my ratings. By identifying the three lowest performing areas, I prioritize setting specific and achievable goals for improvement in these aspects. This approach ensures that I address all facets of my life, fostering a well-rounded and purpose-driven pursuit of success and fulfillment. Quarterly Reevaluation Recognizing the dynamic nature of personal growth and life circumstances, I regularly revisit the "Better Life Wheel" every quarter. This practice allows me to adapt my goals and focus areas based on evolving priorities and experiences, ensuring continual alignment with my aspirations and values. Implementing the "Better Life Wheel" has been instrumental in fostering a balanced and purpose-driven approach to goal-setting, enabling me to pursue holistic fulfillment and growth across all aspects of life. The Importance of Adaptable Goals Setting adaptable, goals is crucial for aligning aspirations with current perspectives and motivations. Traditional annual goal-setting may lead to misaligned objectives, as desires and priorities evolve over time. By embracing goals that resonate with present emotions and ambitions, individuals can cultivate a more authentic and purpose-driven pursuit of success. Aligning Goals with Current Emotions Embracing Adaptability in Goal-Setting Cultivating Authentic and Purpose-Driven Pursuits Lessons Learned from Leaving Biggerpockets Leaving a long-standing professional endeavor is a significant decision that requires careful consideration and strategic planning. My departure from BiggerPockets was driven by a culmination of personal and professional realizations, ultimately leading me to embark on a new trajectory in my entrepreneurial journey. Persistence Through Challenges My experience at BiggerPockets, particularly working alongside a dedicated and persistent entrepreneur like Josh Dork, instilled in me the invaluable lesson of persisting through the inevitable challenges and lows that accompany any entrepreneurial venture. Recognizing the "dip" in business and persisting through it has been a transformative mindset shift that continues to guide my approach to navigating obstacles and setbacks. Building a Bridge to New Identity Transitioning to a new professional identity involved meticulous groundwork and intentional cultivation of a distinct persona, ensuring a seamless transition and a sense of purpose in my new endeavors. By establishing a solid foundation for my new identity and aspirations, I mitigated the potential challenges of feeling lost or adrift after departing from my previous professional role. Embracing a multifaceted identity beyond my association with BiggerPockets enabled a smooth and confident transition into a new phase of my career. Recognizing the Tipping Point Understanding the tipping point between personal fulfillment and professional alignment is instrumental in determining the right time to transition from a current role to new opportunities. It's crucial to assess when the scale tips towards individual growth and advancement, signaling readiness for a new chapter. Strategic Timing and Preparation Timing the departure from a professional role requires a strategic balance of personal readiness, skill development, financial stability, and the establishment of a new professional identity. Building a robust skillset, reputation, and financial stability before embarking on a new venture is pivotal in ensuring a smooth and sustainable transition. Recognizing the point of readiness to pursue independent endeavors, driven by the confidence in one's abilities and the potential for greater personal and professional fulfillment, is a critical aspect of strategic career transitions. Educating Children on Alternative Paths in Life As a parent, I am passionate about instilling in my children the understanding that traditional societal norms do not define their potential paths in life. I encourage them to think outside the box and explore unconventional avenues for their education and future careers. Empowering Entrepreneurial Thinking I believe in nurturing an entrepreneurial mindset in my children, emphasizing the importance of creativity, problem-solving, and innovative approaches to achieving their goals. By exposing them to diverse opportunities and encouraging their entrepreneurial endeavors, I aim to broaden their perspectives on success and fulfillment. Fostering Critical Thinking and Questioning Encouraging my children to question the status quo and challenge conventional norms empowers them to think critically and consider alternative paths to achieving their aspirations. By fostering an environment that values curiosity and independent thinking, I aim to instill in them the confidence to explore unconventional routes and embrace non-traditional methods of learning and personal development. Empowering them to question societal constructs and preconceived notions fosters a sense of autonomy and self-directed decision-making, enabling them to navigate their futures with confidence and resilience. Supporting Entrepreneurial Ventures When my children express entrepreneurial ideas or innovative solutions to challenges, I actively support and provide resources to nurture their ventures. Embracing their creativity and initiative, I seek to cultivate an environment where they feel empowered to explore diverse paths and pursue their passions.

Today's Guest: Paul Wakim Paul is the co-founder of TwnSqr, a real estate technology startup devoted to breaking down the barriers of the real estate industry by providing homeowners and real estate professionals full control over the connections they make for their next real estate transaction. Paul started TwnSqr as a project to create an algorithm to predict who was going to sell their house next so he could buy more deals. Today, TwnSqr has reimagined how the real estate process works for buyers, sellers, agents, and investors, and it's the most secure and fastest way to connect with the best person for your next real estate transaction on your own terms. Highlights From The Show: We begin the episode with Paul sharing the evolution of TwnSqr since its inception right before COVID and how it currently works. Paul details how it has changed from being a real estate tool to a service that is one aspect of a real estate investor's process. Paul detailed a new program that they just launched called TwnSqr Enterprise that caters to investors that have a significant amount of properties to sell to form a direct integration with their Boost service, or their dispositions marketing service. Paul also gives a ton of credit to his partner Mitch that does most of the coding, and who he says is brilliant. Some customizations occur for each individual client, so Paul details this process. I asked Paul to describe their avatar, or ideal client, and also to describe how the pricing works for their service. It is a monthly subscription service, but Paul goes into detail on how it actually works. He also goes into the integration of AI into their services. This was a super detailed interview where I asked a lot of nitty-gritty kinds of questions so you want don't miss another amazing episode of the Just Start Real Estate Podcast with Paul Wakim and get valuable information on how to unlock the potential of your dispositions process with TwnSqr! Notable Quotes: “All TwnSqr is as of August 7th is a way for you to interface your existing systems and processes, your CRM, with our Boost service. There is no more seller-facing aspect to the platform.” Paul Wakim “We have simplified things quite a bit to just being a plug-in for your CRM with the sole purpose of getting you interest in the properties that you have for sale.” Paul Wakim “Any investor that has at least two properties to sell per month is our target market.” Paul Wakim “You are using the existing client's buyers list in addition to going out and getting more people to opt into TwnSqr to maximize who is seeing the properties - more eyeballs.” Mike Simmons “Tell me why I would want to utilize your done-for-you service when I already have a fully operational, successful, talented dispositions team and/or person and/or process. Like why would I hand over the reins to something that is working really well?” Mike Simmons “We found out not only was that sales pitch incorrect but also the execution was incorrect.” Paul Wakim “It is worth combining your existing systems and processes with our boosting system because it is a supplement - it is like a turbocharger for an engine.” Paul Wakim “Once the integration is built, we are off to the races together.” Paul Wakim “Simplicity is where the actual value is.” Paul Wakim “Simple is scalable.” Mike Simmons “TwnSqr today is as bad as it is ever going to get. It is only going to get better.” Paul Wakim Thank You for Listening! Connect with Mike on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Linkedin, Facebook Help Out the Show: Leave an honest review on iTunes. Your ratings and reviews really help, and I read each one. Subscribe on iTunes. Resources and Links From Today's Show: Mike's Email TwnSqr Paul Email Paul on LinkedIn Paul on Instagram Paul on Twitter Paul on Youtube More Resources From Mike: Level Jumping: How I Grew My Business to Over $1 Million in Profits in 12 Months WINNING DIRECT MAIL - How to CRUSH IT with direct mail!

Today's Guest: Erin Helle In this episode, I interview fellow real estate investor and return guest, Erin Helle. Erin begins by giving us her background and what brought her to real estate investing. She began her career in the military, first attending West Point Academy and then serving on active duty. Because her husband was also in the service, they knew that both of them being on active duty would be short-lived as they planned to start a family. She resigned her commission after about eight years of active duty and she began to explore real estate as a way to earn an income and be present for her family. Highlights From The Show: We go back over Erin's story because it is so inspirational! Her business has just exploded since we last talked on the podcast in 2020. We discuss all of the different types of investing she is involved in and the various markets, as well. She related that she has invested in short-term rentals, but doesn't like it as an investment model because it isn't passive at all. We then talk about the event that Erin is hosting called Financial Freedom Summit. It is being held at the Wynn Las Vegas on September 2nd & 3rd, 2023. It is an exclusive event to inspire personal, professional, and financial development. Military veteran leaders in the real estate investing industry will guide the participants to build their blueprint for total financial freedom. But Erin wanted me to understand that it was the community of veterans that gave her the courage to get started in real estate investing, which is why she decided to give back to veterans through her summit. Erin went over the different topics, speakers, and breakout sessions that will happen throughout the weekend. Erin also detailed how some of the sponsors backing the event are providing scholarships to the event for service members that may not otherwise be able to afford to attend. Make sure you don't miss another amazing episode of the Just Start Real Estate Podcast with Erin Helle and learn about everything she has been up to since the last time she was on the show! Notable Quotes: “This is a great industry and there is a lot of opportunity, but it isn't necessarily for everyone.” Mike Simmons “I hate the short-term rental game. I hate everything about it.” Erin Helle “We use any cash we can come up with to build our portfolio.” Erin Helle “I am a very left-brain, logical decision-maker.” Erin Helle “I don't really have the personality to talk to STR guests.” Mike Simmons “It was the network of other West Point grads, and other veterans, in the space that helped me get my start and help me take that first step and then scale.” Erin Helle “There is a lot of value in networking events.” Mike Simmons “I have been amazed at the generosity of the people speaking and putting on this event.” Erin Helle “The value of being in a room with these investors is like an education on steroids.” Mike Simmons Thank You for Listening! Connect with Mike on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Linkedin, Facebook Help Out the Show: Leave an honest review on iTunes. Your ratings and reviews really help, and I read each one. Subscribe on iTunes. Resources and Links From Today's Show: Previous Episode with Erin Financial Freedom Summit Erin's Website Erin on Facebook Erin on Instagram Erin on YouTube More Resources From Mike: Level Jumping: How I Grew My Business to Over $1 Million in Profits in 12 Months WINNING DIRECT MAIL - How to CRUSH IT with direct mail!

Today's Guest: Chris Logan I am excited to have my friend and fellow investor, Chris, on the show today! He is a super smart investor that is passionate about teaching people how to invest outside of their home market. Highlights From The Show: We start the interview as we always do by getting some of Chris' background and how he got started in real estate investing. He was introduced to real estate (like so many others) by reading Rich Dad Poor Dad and then signed up for an investing course with his wife, Heather. They began their business by wholesaling properties and Chris said during that time they tried fix and flipping, but that strategy did not appeal to them. They built their wholesaling business into a 7 figure business and wanted to focus on the one thing that they were really good at. We then discuss wholesaling in markets other than where one lives, which is what Chris primarily does. He said when he is picking a new market, he looks at the population and median home prices. I asked him what specifically he is looking at regarding the population and he said they look for a population between 250,000 and 500,000 people because you know that many houses will be bought and sold and also that it is an area that people want to be in. Chris also recommends using the power of local Facebook groups to build your buyers list and network. Make sure you don't miss another amazing episode of the Just Start Real Estate Podcast with Chris Logan to learn the ins and outs of virtual wholesaling! Notable Quotes: “You are just going to drop value, I know it.” Mike Simmons “Rich Dad Poor Dad is like the gateway drug for real estate investing.” Mike Simmons “Flipping is more of a construction business and wholesaling is a sales and marketing business.” Chris Logan “I am not the biggest fan of flipping, either. I get burned out with the contractor situation.” Mike Simmons “It is not like you take a wholesaling course and then money starts falling from the sky.” Chris Logan “We don't start investing in a market because we want to be there - we follow the money.” Chris Logan “I like starting in an area where I have a runway to scale.” Chris Logan “I think you should build your buyers list before you market for sellers, especially if you are a brand new investor.” Chris Logan “Massive and perfect action is what you want to focus on.” Chris Logan “Our mentality is ‘keep it small, keep it all.'” Chris Logan “Let's do deals together!” Chris Logan “Massive action is the cure for most things.” Mike Simmons Thank You for Listening! Connect with Mike on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Linkedin, Facebook Help Out the Show: Leave an honest review on iTunes. Your ratings and reviews really help, and I read each one. Subscribe on iTunes. Resources and Links From Today's Show: Rich Dad Poor Dad The ONE Thing Mailchimp Aweber PropStream Chris on Facebook Virtual Wholesaling Made Simple Mike on Facebook More Resources From Mike: Level Jumping: How I Grew My Business to Over $1 Million in Profits in 12 Months WINNING DIRECT MAIL - How to CRUSH IT with direct mail!

Today's Guests: James Svetec & Riley Oickle One of the world's foremost Airbnb experts and the co-author of Airbnb for Dummies, James has helped over 1,000 students all over the globe leverage the power of short-term rentals as a vehicle for cash flow and wealth. James is the industry's go-to expert when it comes to mastering performance and streamlining operations. He consults with more than 600 property management companies around the world. Riley is a Canadian real estate investor and mentor who specializes in multi-family residential investing through BRRRR and joint venture strategies. Throughout the journey of buying his first income property in the Southwestern Ontario area, he realized that there is a real need in the market to help people go through this process more easily. Today, he owns a real estate portfolio worth over $8 million and has helped new investors buy their first properties without wasting time and money on trial and error. Highlights From The Show: This is a continuation of the show we posted a couple of weeks ago, discussing the ins and outs of short-term rental investing. We talk about financing, management, software, the science behind listings, and so much more! Make sure you don't miss another amazing episode of the Just Start Real Estate Podcast with James Svetec and Riley Oickle and learn more about how to build a wildly successful short-term rental company! Notable Quotes: “Typically, management costs 20% of your revenue.” Riley Oickle “We find that if you have a short-term rental property 1-2 hours outside of a major urban area, it is a great opportunity for people to staycation.” Riley Oickle “I would love to have the company motto: I don't do anything personally, but my company handles everything in-house.” Mike Simmons “Almost all issues will come from one-night stays.” James Svetec “The check-in process is really important because it is your guest's first impression of your property, so you want it to be very easy.” James Svetec “I am the baby boomer of the group.” Riley Oickle “We recommend that people price their STRs manually at the beginning.” James Svetec Thank You for Listening! Connect with Mike on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Linkedin, Facebook Help Out the Show: Leave an honest review on iTunes. Your ratings and reviews really help, and I read each one. Subscribe on iTunes. Resources and Links From Today's Show: Minut Noise Monitoring NoiseAware Nest August Lock Hostaway Hostfully PriceLabs AirDNA AllTheRooms Mashvisor Motel Makeovers BNB Inner Circle James on Instagram Riley on Instagram More Resources From Mike: Level Jumping: How I Grew My Business to Over $1 Million in Profits in 12 Months WINNING DIRECT MAIL - How to CRUSH IT with direct mail!

Today's Guests: James Svetec & Riley Oickle One of the world's foremost Airbnb experts and the co-author of Airbnb for Dummies, James has helped over 1,000 students all over the globe leverage the power of short-term rentals as a vehicle for cash flow and wealth. James is the industry's go-to expert when it comes to mastering performance and streamlining operations. He consults with more than 600 property management companies around the world. Riley is a Canadian real estate investor and mentor who specializes in multi-family residential investing through BRRRR and joint venture strategies. Throughout the journey of buying his first income property in the Southwestern Ontario area, he realized that there is a real need in the market to help people go through this process more easily. Today, he owns a real estate portfolio worth over $8 million and has helped new investors buy their first properties without wasting time and money on trial and error. Highlights From The Show: We start, as we always do, with my guests providing us with a bit of their background and how they got into real estate investing. Riley originally went the multi-family investing route and James was managing short-term rentals for other owners. They met through a mutual contractor, realized they had complementary skills, and decided to begin investing in short-term rentals together. Additionally, they do short-term rental coaching. I observed that the short-term rental industry existed before COVID but that it had exploded because of peoples' need for a safer environment than a hotel when traveling. I asked the guys several questions pertaining to this so that we could dig into the state of the short-term rental industry in 2023. James pointed out another factor to this was that more people were staycation-ing because they didn't want to get on airplanes to travel. Many of the STRs in rural areas within easy driving distance of large cities experienced a boom as well. He said overall the industry is still trending up from pre-COVID numbers, but it has slowed down somewhat as the pandemic fears have decreased. We talk about market and property evaluation, market area regulations, resources for aggregating data, common mistakes, various portfolio-building ideas, and so much more! Make sure you don't miss another amazing episode of the Just Start Real Estate Podcast with James Svetec and Riley Oickle and learn how to build a wildly successful short-term rental company! Notable Quotes: “So they were like dog years basically.” Mike Simmons “Complete immersion in investing is different than dabbling on and off as a hobby for 10 years.” Mike Simmons “I was totally immersed in the short-term rental and Airbnb space, but I had never bought and owned my own property.” James Svetec “We each had those complementary skill sets.” James Svetec “There is the bird's eye view which is market analysis and then the more micro level which is property analysis. If someone has investing experience, they would be familiar with both.” Riley Oickle “We not only look at what the regulations are in a particular area but where we suspect they might go in the future.” James Svetec “Those properties are very expensive because the area is very prestigious.” James Svetec “I wouldn't say that an area having no regulations is a red flag, but it is a yellow flag, for sure.” James Svetec “It is boring, but you need to read the actual regulation, not an article in the local paper outlining what they think the regulations are.” James Svetec “The AirDNA data is really solid if you know how to use it.” James Svetec “I call it paper napkin math.” Riley Oickle “Beginning investors often evaluate properties based on emotion and that just doesn't work. You need to be very analytical.” Riley Oickle “There is no way around it - if you want to do something right the first time and save money and time, you get a coach, you find a mentor, a mastermind.” Mike Simmons “I am just geeking out on all of the stuff you talked about.” Mike Simmons Thank You for Listening! Connect with Mike on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Linkedin, Facebook Help Out the Show: Leave an honest review on iTunes. Your ratings and reviews really help, and I read each one. Subscribe on iTunes. Resources and Links From Today's Show: AirDNA AllTheRooms Mashvisor Motel Makeovers BNB Inner Circle James on Instagram Riley on Instagram More Resources From Mike: Level Jumping: How I Grew My Business to Over $1 Million in Profits in 12 Months WINNING DIRECT MAIL - How to CRUSH IT with direct mail!

Today's Guest: Tyler Jensen I am excited to have my friend Tyler on the show today! We are also fellow 7 Figure Flippers and he is just the kind of guest I love to have on - someone who is an expert in his field and willing to let me pick his brain! Highlights From The Show: We start the interview like we often do with Tyler sharing his real estate background. He began flipping houses in 2008 as a way to help pay for his college education. He was taking classes and working full-time, so real estate was a side hustle at that point. For years, while working another job, he continued to flip houses because he knew it was an excellent vehicle for building long-term wealth. Tyler talks about how he honestly thought his career was going to be in corporate America but realized he could be successful with flipping when he was able to pay his tuition with the proceeds from his third deal. Joining the 7 Figure Flipping Mastermind was a turning point for Tyler and his business because he was surrounded by very successful investors that encouraged him and helped him scale. Tyler explains his struggles with the lifestyle of being a corporate executive and how he was really trading time for money. He wanted to find a way to have both financial freedom and freedom of time so that he could be a good and present husband and father. After talking to his wife (and he tells us how this conversation went), he decided to pursue his dream of being a full-time investor. He went to Flip Hacking Live, joined the mastermind and his business exploded, doubling the deals performed several years in a row. We also dig into the process he created called the 7 Day Flip, in addition to Tyler's thoughts on the current housing market. Make sure you don't miss another amazing episode of the Just Start Real Estate Podcast with Tyler Jensen and learn how you can succeed in finding both time and financial freedom through real estate investing! Notable Quotes: “I knew that real estate was a great way to make income, so I started early.” Tyler Jensen “On our first flip, we did everything wrong, so it was a great education in real estate.” Tyler Jensen “When I started flipping houses, it was a side hustle with the goal of helping to pay for college.” Tyler Jensen “The year 2008 was actually a great time to get into real estate.” Mike Simmons “In my corporate job, I was trading time for money and I realized it was really hurting me because I could never unplug.” Tyler Jensen “We have amazing women behind us that have our backs.” Tyler Jensen “The biggest thing in any flip is that you have to control the time, the budget, and the quality of work you are putting out.” Tyler Jensen “That system and process is critical to getting things done fast.” Mike Simmons Thank You for Listening! Connect with Mike on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Linkedin, Facebook Help Out the Show: Leave an honest review on iTunes. Your ratings and reviews really help, and I read each one. Subscribe on iTunes. Resources and Links From Today's Show: Tyler's Website 7 Day Flip 7 Figure Flipping More Resources From Mike: Level Jumping: How I Grew My Business to Over $1 Million in Profits in 12 Months WINNING DIRECT MAIL - How to CRUSH IT with direct mail!

Today's Guest: Erin Maney I am excited to have my friend Erin on the show today! She is a fellow 7 Figure Flipper and shares her recent real estate investing journey with us with the hopes that it will encourage other investors who may be struggling. Highlights From The Show: Erin begins by sharing a bit of her background with us. She began investing about four years ago while still working full-time. She has a wholesaling company in the Milwaukee area and decided to put in her notice last June to focus on investing. With the manner in which the market changed last year though, she began to have some struggles. She said they had never had to give a lot of attention to their buyer's list or their disposition process before, but then their buyers started dropping out. Erin was trying to build a company and hire employees, but thought if she couldn't make it work for herself, how could she possibly empower others? Because we are both part of the 7 Figure Flipping Mastermind, when Erin expressed that she was having some difficulties, we were able to get connected and talk it out. She said she was thinking of their company as a marketing and sales company and was reminded through our conversation that her greatest asset was their buyers. Erin said that she had not marketed to grow their buyer's list at all and so she set a goal of adding 40 people to their list every week. Very quickly she saw that her efforts were making a difference and it confirmed how important it was for her to focus on their buyer's list. I asked Erin what her plan is for 2023 and she talked about how much she loves wholesaling, but because of the strength of her team, she is looking at exit strategies. She would like to take herself out of the day-to-day operations so that she can focus on building long-term wealth. What a transparent and honest interview with Erin Maney who is battling through some investing struggles and thriving! Don't miss the latest episode of the Just Start Real Estate Podcast! Notable Quotes: “I was able to give her some advice to turn that ship around.” Mike Simmons “You can survive in any market.” Mike Simmons “I am a big fan of Mike Simmons.” Erin Maney “While initially, I felt like the wind was at my back, with the market change I felt like I was running into the wind, and I hadn't experienced that before.” Erin Maney “I had so much fear as to what was to come.” Erin Maney “You really reminded me of the fundamentals of underwriting that I really needed to get back to.” Erin Maney “A wholesaling company's value is completely linked to the strength of their buyer's list.” Mike Simmons “You probably saved me from going back to federal government employment!” Erin Maney “Our most savvy, long-term buyers are not going to be our best buyers as far as profit.” Erin Maney “Execution is the key.” Mike Simmons Thank You for Listening! Connect with Mike on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Linkedin, Facebook Help Out the Show: Leave an honest review on iTunes. Your ratings and reviews really help, and I read each one. Subscribe on iTunes. More Resources From Mike: Level Jumping: How I Grew My Business to Over $1 Million in Profits in 12 Months WINNING DIRECT MAIL - How to CRUSH IT with direct mail!

Today's Guest: Ted Bradshaw Ted Bradshaw served as an executive with Xerox and IBM, then left the Fortune 500 world to explore the thrills of entrepreneurship. What he found was a long string of success that looked great on the surface. But underneath it all, he felt anxious, exhausted, and stressed, chasing money wherever it led and wondering why he never felt fulfilled. Along his journey, Ted gained valuable insight into how a person can achieve fulfillment in all aspects of life and he shares those insights with his best-selling book, Stop Chasing Squirrels. Highlights From The Show: We begin the interview with Ted giving us a bit of his background, which is diverse and super interesting. From a dabble in real estate investing to video games, to online classrooms, and diagnosing cancer through nuclear medicine, it seems as though Ted has truly done it all. Today, Ted lives his passion in helping others find theirs. A leading proponent of the Entrepreneurial Operating System®, Ted is a speaker, author, an Expert EOS Implementer™, and the Community Leader for EOS Worldwide. Ted then breaks down the framework of the system for our listeners. I then asked Ted to talk about his latest project, his book, Stop Chasing Squirrels. He relates that he wrote the book as therapy because he got caught up in setting goals and never really felt successful, even though all of the external markers reflected exactly that. He confesses that this issue was affecting him in very serious ways, including marital discord and panic attacks. He saw it with other entrepreneurs, as well. As soon as they were able to get their businesses under control by implementing EOS, they were left with the reality that they were not personally happy. It was almost as though having business chaos was a distraction from having to work on themselves. Ted had mentioned that he had at one point followed a real estate squirrel, so I asked him to share that with us. Ted talked about how his father was in real estate and taught him that it was all about building value over time. He started investing in single-family homes, like many of us, and that led to multi-family units and then new construction. He saw that even when particular units were experiencing issues, real estate was still a successful endeavor for him. He decided to go all in on a larger project and unfortunately ended up working with a high-end construction company that went out of business and he spent the better part of two years cleaning up the resulting mess. Ted said that he learned so much from this experience, even with as difficult as it was. Don't miss the latest episode of the Just Start Real Estate Podcast with Ted Bradshaw who openly and honestly shares his entrepreneurial journey with us! Go check out his upcoming webinar and course at TedBradshaw.com! Notable Quotes: “I have started six companies - four of them are success stories and two of them were learning opportunities.” Ted Bradshaw “It was a ‘go big or go home' kind of idea and we ended up going home on that one.” Ted Bradshaw “You don't just wake up one day and accidentally find yourself in that field.” Mike Simmons “I am a big believer in serendipity - things happen for a reason.” Ted Bradshaw “Please tell me you didn't find yourself in the Middle East on some black market run.” Mike Simmons “In three hours we were working through things that previously it has taken us three years to get to.” Ted Bradshaw “I don't pretend that everyone here hears all of my episodes and does everything I say, but I have been preaching the book Traction and the EOS system for years.” Mike Simmons “If your listeners look into EOS, they will find that it is a simple system, but it is also timeless.” Ted Bradshaw “EOS is systemized - it is the ‘how to.'” Ted Bradshaw “The picture can't see the frame.” Ted Bradshaw “It does help companies move forward when people know they are going to be held accountable.” Mike Simmons “So how dialed in is your BS meter?” Mike Simmons “It is amazing how many people tie their identities to their business and stay in it longer than they should because of it.” Mike Simmons “It starts, fundamentally, with purpose.” Ted Bradshaw “We need some guardrails to keep us on track.” Ted Bradshaw “Go past Terry Bradshaw - that is not me!” Ted Bradshaw Thank You for Listening! Connect with Mike on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Linkedin, Facebook Help Out the Show: Leave an honest review on iTunes. Your ratings and reviews really help, and I read each one. Subscribe on iTunes. Resources and Links From Today's Show: Ted's Website Ted Bradshaw LinkedIn Ted Bradshaw Twitter Ted Bradshaw Instagram Traction EOS Worldwide What the Heck is EOS? Stop Chasing Squirrels This Naked Mind More Resources From Mike: Level Jumping: How I Grew My Business to Over $1 Million in Profits in 12 Months WINNING DIRECT MAIL - How to CRUSH IT with direct mail!

Today's Guest: Candy Valentino I am excited to welcome Candy to the show today because she has such an impressive and diverse resume! Candy started her first business at 19 years old with no degree, no corporate background, no money, and no internet. She successfully started, scaled, and successfully sold businesses in service, retail, e-commerce, and product manufacturing in addition to creating a vast real estate portfolio as a flipper and investor. At 26, Candy founded a non-profit charity. Through her business success, she bought and donated a building to the organization. Since then they have saved thousands of lives and Candy has been actively involved, personally raising millions for the charity. During her two and half decades as an entrepreneur, she has been named to Top Business Leaders 40 Under 40, Top 50 Women In Business, 10 People Making a Difference, Top 10 Business Consultants by Yahoo Finance, and was the youngest female to receive the Governor's Award in Entrepreneurship in Pennsylvania. Candy was recently selected by Success Magazine as one of just 6 ‘Women of Influence' and additionally listed to ‘Leaders Who Get Results' with names like Will Smith, Gary Vee, and Brene Brown. Highlights From The Show: Candy starts the show by sharing some of her background. What makes her accomplishments even more impressive is that she basically came from nothing. Both of her parents had blue-collar jobs and gave birth to her in their teens. She thought initially she would be the first person in her family to earn a college degree, but was amazed that her professors were teaching her about running a business when they didn't have one of their own! This launched her into her entrepreneurial journey. Candy has a lot of diverse projects, but I wanted to see what her real estate journey has been like and if she was still investing. She said absolutely she is still investing and part of what she loves about it is its flexibility. Candy talked about how much she loves the design process and managing contractors, so she has continued to hold some of her properties after rehabbing them, but she really loves the flipping process. She shares that it has been important for her to remain somewhat conservative with her investing because the only person she has to rely on for money is herself. Now she is able to flip in the millions and her last project was a $4.5M total gut property. We also talk a bit about how she was positioned in 2008 to avoid the housing market crash. Because Candy is involved in so many different businesses, I asked her what life hacks she uses for productivity and staying focused. She talks about how much she really loves being an entrepreneur and continually being pulled in different directions. She emphasizes how important staying disciplined and focused on your goals is and not following the next shiny object. Candy states that most people are not willing to put their heads down, focus, and play the long game, and so therefore, their businesses really suffer or never get off the ground. She says she has a productivity grid that she focuses on every day to perform the top three, absolutely necessary tasks for each project or business that she has to get done in order to move it forward. She also keeps her phone face-down and on silent all of the time until she is ready to handle the incoming texts and emails. We then spend some time discussing Candy's book, Wealth Habits: Six Ordinary Steps to Achieve Extraordinary Financial Freedom. She calls it a no-BS guidebook because she wanted to be honest and clear with people about how to build financial freedom that isn't couched in flowery language. She stresses if anyone just does these things and does them consistently, they can find success as she has. What a refreshingly honest interview with Candy Valentino who was a ton of fun for me to interview! Don't miss the latest episode of the Just Start Real Estate Podcast with this very special and incredibly successful guest! Notable Quotes: “I just couldn't reconcile in my 18-year-old brain how my college professor was teaching me about business when he didn't have one himself.” Candy Valentino “We can tell you the best strategies for building wealth, but if you hate your life, you are not going to be able to sustain it for very long.” Candy Valentino “I don't necessarily know how to repair cars, but I do tend to know more about cars than most of the guys in my circle.” Candy Valentino “The minute self-employed people stop working, they stop making money. That isn't a business, that is a job.” Candy Valentino “I didn't want to continually trade time for money.” Candy Valentino “When people know, like, and trust you, they want recommendations of what to buy.” Candy Valentino “I am not educated, I don't have an MBA or some fancy letters. This is really just self-education by reading books in my office.” Candy Valentino “We learn from mentors or by making mistakes, and the latter is a lot more expensive and timely.” Candy Valentino “You didn't have any pre-built doubt. Sometimes the most powerful thing you can have is ignorance.” Mike Simmons “When the expectation is low, you don't have to do much to impress people.” Candy Valentino “I know people who basically committed business suicide in 2008 because they were so over-leveraged.” Candy Valentino “When we look at the data from any type of market, winter always comes.” Candy Valentino “I just stick with what I know.” Candy Valentino “If you haven't been doing this for 20 or 25 years, you absolutely should be playing in this below-median house range.” Candy Valentino “I love entrepreneurship, I love investing, I love being pulled in a million directions.” Candy Valentino “Before my feet hit the floor, I find five things I am grateful for.” Candy Valentino “That would be my book - ‘The So-NOT Miracle Morning'!” Mike Simmons “To do anything new, you just have to have a little more courage than fear.” Candy Valentino “If you want to just make a bunch of money, you will miss the entire point of building wealth. Building wealth is so that you can have freedom.” Candy Valentino Thank You for Listening! Connect with Mike on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Linkedin, Facebook Help Out the Show: Leave an honest review on iTunes. Your ratings and reviews really help, and I read each one. Subscribe on iTunes. Resources and Links From Today's Show: Wealth Habits: Six Ordinary Steps to Achieve Extraordinary Financial Freedom Candy on Instagram Candy on Facebook Candy on TikTok Candy's Website (for bonuses!) More Resources From Mike: Level Jumping: How I Grew My Business to Over $1 Million in Profits in 12 Months WINNING DIRECT MAIL - How to CRUSH IT with direct mail!

Today's Guest: Ryan Murdock Ryan spent ten years in the electronics manufacturing industry before transitioning to real estate investing and property management in 2007. Today, he is VP of Acquisitions at Open Door Capital, a real estate investment company from Bigger Pocket's Brandon Turner. Ryan has extensive management experience in many facets of real estate including retail, office, multi-family, HOA, nationwide consulting, and mobile home parks. He has been a licensed real estate broker since 2008 and owns and operates a portfolio of residential rental properties. Highlights From The Show: Before Ryan got into real estate investing, he worked as a production facility technician in the electronics manufacturing industry, traveling all over the world. His priorities really changed when he got married and found himself having to decide if he wanted to continue to live overseas. He bought his first rental property when he was thirty years old and has been building his “empire” ever since! Ryan's first investment was in a duplex in Bangor, Maine and he lived on one side while renting out the other, “house hack” style. He financed this investment very traditionally and talks about how this was his first experience with having difficult tenants to deal with. He bought a few more duplexes and was looking aggressively at foreclosures to find other deals, while at the same time, he started his own property management company. He ran this company himself for about five years and then eventually paired up with a bigger management company that had a network of employees that he did not. At about this same time, he also got his real estate license so he could pursue his own deals. Eventually, Ryan got to a point with his own portfolio where he was able to leave this company and go back to managing only his rental properties, aided by much better systems, technology, and automation. As he started to broker other deals and do some consulting, it made sense for him to give the project management portion to his past employers so he could spend his time in more profitable endeavors. Ryan utilizes the BRRRR strategy with his properties, so we spent some time discussing how that worked for him. He talked about how he was completely reinvigorated by finding the BiggerPockets podcast and learning about different strategies that he had not yet explored. It made him take a hard look at his portfolio and get money out to use as working capital to invest in more properties. He encourages our listeners to take a hard look at their own properties in order to maximize their cash flow. I then asked Ryan what made him pick up his life and move to Maui and join forces with Brandon Turner. Ryan and Brandon had partnered to buy a mobile home park and developed a relationship through that process. When Brandon moved to Maui, he asked Ryan to come out and give him a hand, and a week-long stay turned into a month. Brandon eventually hired Ryan as his personal assistant. Because Ryan initially hooked up with Brandon by feeding him a mobile park investment lead, we spent some time exploring this investing strategy. Ryan talked about how to evaluate these types of investments and the techniques they used to add value to these communities. Once Ryan moved to Hawaii, they got really invested in Open Door Capital, Brandon's company which exclusively buys mobile home parks. At the time of recording, they owned about 10 different communities with approximately 1500 lots. Ryan went into quite a bit of detail about what they look for in an investment of this kind and also the type of investor that they look for to partner up with them. He also pitched the “Bring Brandon A Deal” promotion they are running now if someone finds them an off-market mobile park deal. Ryan has an incredibly diverse background in investing and in life, so you do not want to miss this entertaining and informative episode of the Just Start Real Estate Podcast! Notable Quotes: “The real driving factor for getting into real estate was that I just couldn't see myself in another corporate job for the next thirty years.” Ryan Murdock “I went on Amazon and bought every real estate and property management book they had because I had no idea what I was doing.” Ryan Murdock “Maybe if I had read some different or better books I wouldn't have made so many mistakes.” Ryan Murdock “If I am going to be married to my own rental properties, I might as well start managing some for other people and generate a little income.” Ryan Murdock “If you feel like you are getting close to hiring help, you are probably already past the point when you should.” Mike Simmons “I think a lot of people are like me - I had 10 cents in my bank account and every day is a struggle to hustle.” Ryan Murdock “There are different tiers to financial freedom… it doesn't happen overnight.” Ryan Murdock “Finding and listening to the BiggerPockets podcast really lit a fire under me again.” Ryan Murdock “I encourage other investors to keep an eye on their properties' financials.” Ryan Murdock “I just want to buy and hold everything.” Ryan Murdock “Because of Brandon's platform and reach, he is able to attract some extremely talented people.” Ryan Murdock “I'm always amazed at the ways you can make money in real estate.” Mike Simmons Thank You for Listening! Connect with Mike on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Linkedin, Facebook Help Out the Show: Leave an honest review on iTunes. Your ratings and reviews really help and I read each one. Subscribe on iTunes. Resources and Links From Today's Show: Real Estate Investing for Dummies Property Management for Dummies BiggerPockets Podcast Open Door Capital More Resources From Mike: Level Jumping: How I Grew My Business to Over $1 Million in Profits in 12 Months WINNING DIRECT MAIL - How to CRUSH IT with direct mail!

Highlights From The Show: Welcome to this version of the Just Start Real Estate Podcast! I am excited to bring you another solo episode where I discuss the ins and outs of wholesaling. I can't believe how many conversations I have had recently where people are interested in getting started with this investing strategy but don't really understand how it works. I have been wholesaling at a high volume for seven years now and what to share that knowledge with my listeners! I hope you enjoy this latest episode of the podcast! Notable Quotes: “There seems to be a lot of gaps in peoples' knowledge concerning wholesaling.” “You have three primary people in a wholesale deal: the seller of the home, a wholesaler, and a buyer.” “Part of building a business is building a reliable marketing strategy.” “Someone has to receive those inquiries and we call them lead intake.” “An acquisitions manager's job is to ultimately negotiate an agreed-upon price between our company and the seller.” “A dispositions manager's job is to take the purchase agreement from the acquisitions manager and market it out to buyers.” “The transaction coordinator works with the title company, supplies all of the pertinent documents, and gets a closing date set.” “A bookkeeper is a very important member of your team regardless of the type of investing strategy you are employing. Everyone needs a bookkeeper.” “Wholesaling is not hard, it is not complicated. Like anything else, it takes doing it once for you to feel comfortable in understanding the process.” “We don't make excuses, we make money and have success. We move forward. That is the mindset I want you to have.” Thank You for Listening! Connect with Mike on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Linkedin, Facebook Help Out the Show: Leave an honest review on iTunes. Your ratings and reviews really help and I read each one. Subscribe on iTunes. More Resources From Mike: Level Jumping: How I Grew My Business to Over $1 Million in Profits in 12 Months WINNING DIRECT MAIL - How to CRUSH IT with direct mail! Be one of the 100! Email me at mike@juststartrealestate.com or reach out via Facebook messenger @MikeSSimmons1

Today's Guest: Terry Burger I am excited to have my friend, Terry, on the show today! He is a super smart investor that has pivoted strategies several times in his career and I believe he has a ton to offer my audience in the show today! Highlights From The Show: To kick our conversation off, Terry shares that he is a classically trained musician and believes that demonstrates that he knows how to work hard, be disciplined, and get the work done. He taught orchestra and band to middle and high school children and decided to leave that vocation when he felt like it was similar to the movie, “Groundhog Day” - just very repetitive. He moved into being a real estate agent, selling over 1000 houses in a fifteen-year span, and then transitioned into full-time investing in 2015. Make sure you don't miss another amazing episode of the Just Start Real Estate Podcast with Terry Burger and take a look behind the scenes of a casual conversation I have with a close friend who happens to be killing it in real estate! Notable Quotes: “Everything Terry has done has worked.” Mike Simmons “I know what it takes to be disciplined and get stuff done.” Terry Burger “That has been the pattern of my life. When it starts feeling like “Groundhog Day”, I try something new.” Terry Burger “Terry, you have seen me when I am hungry, tired, and irritable.” Mike Simmons Thank You for Listening! Connect with Mike on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Linkedin, Facebook Help Out the Show: Leave an honest review on iTunes. Your ratings and reviews really help, and I read each one. Subscribe on iTunes. Resources and Links From Today's Show: Previous Episode with Terry More Resources From Mike: Level Jumping: How I Grew My Business to Over $1 Million in Profits in 12 Months WINNING DIRECT MAIL - How to CRUSH IT with direct mail!

Highlights From The Show: Welcome to this version of the Just Start Real Estate Podcast! I am excited to bring you another solo episode where I deliver my thoughts on building a real estate investment company with a partner. I am sharing a presentation that I gave concerning the important issues pertaining to whether or not a partnership is the right choice for you. Notable Quotes: “I have found over the years that there is a framework and guidelines you can follow to know whether or not a partnership makes sense for you.” “I know people that have lost millions in bad partnerships.” “I only ever want to talk about things that I am completely passionate about.” “I think what people do, without a whole lot of thought or research, is they jump into partnerships.” “Being an entrepreneur can be lonely.” “Having a partner can be very comforting because it is someone in the trenches with you and understands the struggle, but trust me - that is not a good enough reason to partner.” “You don't need a partner to have a sounding board.” “One benefit to having a partner is that you can take time off.” “There is always a price to having a partner.” “You have to have a similar risk tolerance.” “I was sleeping like a baby because risk doesn't bother me.” “We all know that we can recover from mistakes.” Thank You for Listening! Connect with Mike on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Linkedin, Facebook Help Out the Show: Leave an honest review on iTunes. Your ratings and reviews really help and I read each one. Subscribe on iTunes. More Resources From Mike: Level Jumping: How I Grew My Business to Over $1 Million in Profits in 12 Months WINNING DIRECT MAIL - How to CRUSH IT with direct mail! Be one of the 100! Email me at mike@juststartrealestate.com.

Today's Guest: Justin Colby Justin is the Founder and President of The Science of Flipping and Phoenix Wealth Builders. The Science of Flipping is a top-ranked real estate investing podcast and Justin now has a second podcast called The Entrepreneur DNA for those going through the entrepreneurial journey. His real estate investment company, Phoenix Wealth Builders, specializes in purchasing, rehab, wholesaling, and wholetailing properties in the Metro Phoenix Area and they have flipped and wholesaled over 1500 properties to date. Justin has been called a master at finding deals in a market that many say is the most difficult market to be a real estate investor in. Highlights From The Show: Justin began by telling us that he started as a realtor in 2005 and then bought a brokerage with a friend. He talked about how it was almost impossible not to make a lot of money in real estate in the years before the market crash. Being really young at that time, he spent a ton of money and had a really expensive car and condo, which all went away in 2007. He shares how he lost everything and ended up sleeping on his buddy's couch. Things started to turn around for Justin when he and a friend decided to begin investing in real estate. They ended up using transactional funding for their deals, which was popular at that time, where they would get a deal funded and closed basically simultaneously or same day. I asked if, at this time, he was doing any work on these properties and he said no, effectively what he was doing was wholetailing. Justin talked about setting a goal for himself of calling 100 realtors a day in order to find deals and people to work with, and it took a full nine months before they had their first deal. After Justin talked about his resilience and fortitude in getting some traction in his new business, I asked him to share how he gets his deals. He addressed several different marketing strategies, including pay-per-click advertising, direct mail, cold-calling and auto-texting, and driving for dollars. Justin also examined the level of seller motivation and relative cost for each, as well. I then asked Justin to describe how he is brokering deals by working with iBuyer companies such as Opendoor and Offerpad. If a deal isn't attractive to his company for wholesaling, wholetailing, flipping, or even buy-and-hold, he will inquire with his realtor about the price one of these companies will offer the seller for their home and take a portion of the transaction fees if he can successfully hook them up. This is a really creative way of working with them instead of getting swallowed up by them as a smaller investor. We discussed how the COVID pandemic was affecting his business and how he has been able to adapt. Justin says he really prides himself on the ability to stay flexible and make adjustments, if necessary. He talks about how he had refocused his energy on his business after a partnership fell through, and when the pandemic hit, it was actually good timing for him. Justin was incredibly transparent in his business dealings and if you join us on the Just Start Real Estate Podcast, I know you will get a ton of actionable wisdom! Notable Quotes: “The beginning years were the fun ones - when I was broke, busted, and disgusted.” Justin Colby “Pain is more of a motivator than the carrot.” Justin Colby “Just talk about what you are doing and people will get excited and gravitate toward you.” Mike Simmons “Here is my secret sauce - I'm a people person.” Justin Colby “I just had fortitude - I was willing to endure pain when other people can't or won't.” Justin Colby “I know what I want to achieve and I am relentless in trying to achieve it regardless of when I achieve it.” Justin Colby “People overestimate what they can accomplish in a year and underestimate what they can accomplish in ten.” Tony Robbins “You can get exactly what you want if you are willing to: (a) work for it but (b) have patience.” Justin Colby “You need to have more than one market strategy going at all times.” Justin Colby “I have been able to make adjustments and pivot when required, and remained very flexible.” Justin Colby “The only times I ever got hurt was when I chased money.” Justin Colby Thank You for Listening! Connect with Mike on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Linkedin, Facebook Help Out the Show: Leave an honest review on iTunes. Your ratings and reviews really help and I read each one. Subscribe on iTunes. Resources and Links From Today's Show: Propstream TSOFData.com Fortitude by Dan Crenshaw Launch Control Text Messaging DealMachine App Opendoor Offerpad The Score Takes Care of Itself by Bill Walsh The Science of Flipping Academy FB Group Justin on Instagram More Resources From Mike: Level Jumping: How I Grew My Business to Over $1 Million in Profits in 12 Months WINNING DIRECT MAIL - How to CRUSH IT with direct mail!

Highlights From The Show: Welcome to this version of the Just Start Real Estate Podcast! I am excited to bring you my first solo episode where I deliver my thoughts and strategies for real estate investing in this changing market. Don't throw the baby out with the bath water! You can still do what you love to do with a few tweaks in your business! Notable Quotes: “It is absolutely crazy trying to do five episodes of a podcast every week.” “There are definitely subjects I want to talk about that I may not get to if I am just doing interviews or Q&As.” “I know the majority of questions I am going to get are, ‘How can our business survive in this market?'” “You don't have to change everything that you are doing.” “That is not a logical, rational reaction to a fairly small-to-medium-sized problem.” “I wholesaled when the market was down, I wholesaled when the market skyrocketed, and I am a wholesaler now.” “You don't throw out the engine when you are having an engine problem - you tweak the engine.” “You wouldn't do it with your car… why are you doing it with your business?” “You have to change the language that you use.” “I might be a little more helpful on the back end and more sympathetic to my buyers' concerns.” “When the house prices were soaring, you had to focus on what your sellers' motivation was in order to make your offer make sense.” “When it comes to real estate investing, you usually have a challenge with one end of the investing cycle.” “Zillow can be your friend. It isn't always accurate, but homeowners don't have anything else to look at.” Thank You for Listening! Connect with Mike on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Linkedin, Facebook Help Out the Show: Leave an honest review on iTunes. Your ratings and reviews really help and I read each one. Subscribe on iTunes. More Resources From Mike: Level Jumping: How I Grew My Business to Over $1 Million in Profits in 12 Months WINNING DIRECT MAIL - How to CRUSH IT with direct mail!

Today's Guest: Zeona McIntyre Zeona is a licensed realtor and a mid-term rental investor located in the Boulder area. She has a great group of experienced investor-friendly agents who can help people find the perfect home. Zeona also has a nationwide referral list of vetted teams that allows them to connect clients with investor-friendly agents in any state. Highlights From The Show: We begin the episode with Zeona sharing her background story and how she ended up in real estate. Zeona shares that she is a real estate consultant and agent. She started her journey with Airbnb in 2012 and is in the early ramp-up stage in the mid-term space. Zeona has been investing in real estate for 10 years, and she loves helping people get into furnished rentals because whether they are mid or short-term, they are a great boost for cash flow for people. Zeon's goal is to help get as many people as possible to be financially independent. We then discuss medium-term rentals and why you should invest in this model. Zeona shares that based on her book, mid-term rental is anything over 30 days, but the typical stay is 90 days because most traveling nurses have assignments for 13 weeks. From her mid-term rentals, she often sees people staying for a month to several months and sometimes even a year. On the other hand, Zeona explains that what differentiates long-term rentals from mid-term rentals is that long-term rentals are unfurnished and rented by the year, while mid-term rentals are by the month. According to her, the number one benefit of mid-term rentals is regulations. Mid-term rentals are seen as long-term rentals because regulations are enforced in the 30 days or fewer markets. So it's a comfortable space when your numbers for short-term rentals are not working out. Next, we talk about the downside of mid-term rentals. Zeona shares that when she started with Airbnb, it was new, and she has watched short-term properties get all the cool automation that it has today. Automation didn't exist when she started, and now, with the medium-term rentals, it also doesn't exist, but you can borrow some from the short-term rentals. It will not be a perfect fit, but it will help. Zeona also shares that you can modify a long-term lease to a mid-term lease. We then discuss how to get into medium-term rentals by hosting traveling nurses. Zeona shares that you can start by looking into your area using a map for hospitals. Hospitals are rated by trauma levels. Level 1 and 2 hospitals take the most extreme cases, while smaller hospitals don't do much and don't get as many travel nurses. Zeona recommends investing in areas with levels 1 and 2 hospitals and places closer to them, within a range of 30 minutes distance. You also need to look at the number of beds in the units, and 200+ would be a solid option. According to Zeona, all these are online, and all you need to do is to search for the name and check the trauma level and bed capacity. From there, you can connect with HR and inform them of your offering. You can also do it through Furnish Finder. It will give you a list of people searching in your area, and you can connect with them. This is easy and effective, and you can do it now or even before you purchase a property to assess the demand in an area. Lastly, we talk about how to manage your calendar. According to Zeona, you've to be careful how you open up vacancies because you don't want someone to book something you will not be able to fulfill. Managing your calendar is all about knowing your high and low seasons to plan your openings, rates, and occupancy. Zeona explains that it's good to plan ahead and use your mid-term rental in a hybrid way, especially in slow seasons. For her, she used the mid-term rentals as short-term rentals in places where she can legalize them as such. Make sure you don't miss another amazing episode of the Just Start Real Estate Podcast with Zeona McIntyre and get valuable information on how to win big with mid-term rentals! Notable Quotes: “Furnished rentals, whether mid or short-term, are a boost for cash flow.” Zeona McIntyre “Mid-term rentals are seen as long-term rentals with regulations, and it's a comfortable space when your numbers for short-term rentals are not working out.” Zeona McIntyre “Plan ahead and use your mid-term rental in a hybrid way, especially in slow seasons.“ Zeona McIntyre “Managing your calendar is all about knowing what your high and low seasons are and planning your openings, rates, and occupancy in advance.” Zeona McIntyre Thank You for Listening! Connect with Mike on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Linkedin, Facebook Help Out the Show: Leave an honest review on iTunes. Your ratings and reviews really help, and I read each one. Subscribe on iTunes. Resources and Links From Today's Show: 30 Days Stay Stayamo Zeona's Website Zeona on LinkedIn Zeona on Instagram Zeona on YouTube More Resources From Mike: Level Jumping: How I Grew My Business to Over $1 Million in Profits in 12 Months WINNING DIRECT MAIL - How to CRUSH IT with direct mail! 7 Figure Investor Video Course - Scale your business to 7 figures. I'll show you how!

Highlights From The Show: Welcome to this version of the Just Start Real Estate Podcast! I am excited to bring you my first solo episode where I deliver my real estate goals for this new year. I am trying to do some things differently this year, so in this episode, I tell you a little about what I did in 2022 and how I am changing that up to achieve new goals in 2023! Notable Quotes: “I am going to go out of my comfort zone a bit.” “I decided to put what I am working on out there so you could all hear it.” “I think that being accountable is a huge part of achieving goals.” “I am not talking about some high-level sales amount… I am talking about money that was actually deposited into my account.” “We weren't doing owner-financed deals before 2022.” “It is a way that we are hedging against some of the market fluctuations.” “At the end of 2022, we hired a Chief Operating Officer. This is a game-changer for us.” “Hiring an operations manager can be high-reward, but it is also high-risk.” “The minute you stop looking, the right person comes along.” “I think we can see increased profit margin by just tightening the processes and by buttoning things up a lot.” “Raising money is always something I am interested in learning more about.” “I want to get on really significant stages in 2023.” “The workload is about the same regardless if you make $1,000 or $10,000 per month with a rental property.” “Reach out to poor old me and give me some feedback.” “Hopefully it was a little fly-on-the-wall moment for you and you found it helpful.” Thank You for Listening! Connect with Mike on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Linkedin, Facebook Help Out the Show: Leave an honest review on iTunes. Your ratings and reviews really help and I read each one. Subscribe on iTunes. More Resources From Mike: Level Jumping: How I Grew My Business to Over $1 Million in Profits in 12 Months WINNING DIRECT MAIL - How to CRUSH IT with direct mail!

Today's Guest: Justin Silverio Justin is the owner of JS2 Homes and Open Letter Marketing. Justin has been investing in real estate since 2011 with extensive experience in rehabbing, new construction, wholesaling, and multi-family rental properties in and around the Boston area. Justin founded Open Letter Marketing in 2016 with a focus on providing real estate investors with a more effective direct-to-seller marketing approach than outdated methods. Justin's company works with hundreds of investors throughout the country and is recognized as one of the top real estate investor marketing companies. Highlights From The Show: Justin begins by telling us about his background and how he always had a love of houses because his dad was a contractor. The flipping television shows that came out around 2009 really piqued his interest as he was working as an accountant, but didn't love it. Partnering with his father in finding and rehabbing houses married two of Justin's passions together - love of houses and of numbers. For the first five years in real estate investing, Justin and his dad were flipping houses while he continued to work his full-time job, also while doing marketing for new properties. We talked about the challenges inherent in the situation and how it is possible to make it work. I asked Justin how they funded their first deal and he described the process he went through in order to pitch three regional banks to do business with them. He did his homework, knew what information the banks wanted to see, and put together a five-year business plan to get funding before selecting his first property. Justin then described what his business looks like today. He went from rehabbing entry-level homes to mid-level homes, to high-end homes and new construction, to what he is doing today which is primarily multi-family condo conversions. The bulk of his day-to-day business dealings is made up of wholesaling homes while staying involved with the multi-family developments which are more long-term projects. He talked about how competition and profit margin per time spent really drove him to switch his business model. Justin then told us about his company Open Letter Marketing, which was created to provide real estate investors with direct-to-seller marketing. I asked Justin to describe what their program does better than his competitors and he spoke to the fact that his product looks at the very fine details. With his product, they promote campaigns with a sequence of letters where each letter builds off of the prior. I asked Justin to describe the current project he is working on, software called OLM InvestorHub, which is a lead and marketing management system based on his own business process. It will enable investors to purchase or import multiple lists, identify properties on more than one list, and identify the quality of a list once it is imported. Once the lead quality has been identified, you can create marketing campaigns specific to each. Justin talks about the software's dashboard and how it organizes all of the marketing tools an investor is using and sends reminders to perform certain tasks to keep everything organized and visible to the user. They also have a CRM product that communicates with InvestorHub called OLM DealFlow. Going forward, Justin is concerned with defining a systematic process for his wholesaling business so it can grow and expand. He also talked about looking at the more technical side of direct-to-seller marketing and how that can influence the direction of Open Letter Marketing. During this interview, Justin speaks about being on the front lines in order to engineer new things to help people get better responses in changing market conditions. This is an incredibly informative episode for helping investors use the most current tools in order to fuel their business and I hope you will join us! Notable Quotes: “The degree is just the gateway to the world you want to get into.” Mike Simmons “I know I have something that works much better and there is nothing on the market that offers this.” Justin Silverio “If a marketing strategy works in my real estate investment business, I'm going to offer it to my customers.” Justin Silverio “It is almost like you are building a conversation with the seller, and you do it in a specific way so that they are getting to know more about you with each letter.” Justin Silverio “I'm just trying to create a solution for my own issue.” Justin Silverio “My goal is to truly make an impact and provide value to as many real estate investors as I possibly can.” Justin Silverio “How can I create a product to make everyone an expert in marketing?” Justin Silverio “You end up doing lazy marketing, out of convenience, rather than strategy.” Mike Simmons “We are trying to build the tools to free up everybody's time.” Justin Silverio “Marketing for most investors is just disjointed.” Justin Silverio “I always want to be on the very front line.” Justin Silverio “What you are working on is like the oxygen of a real estate company.” Mike Simmons Thank You for Listening! Connect with Mike on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Linkedin, Facebook Help Out the Show: Leave an honest review on iTunes. Your ratings and reviews really help and I read each one. Subscribe on iTunes. Resources and Links From Today's Show: Open Letter Marketing OLM InvestorHub OLM DealFlow More Resources From Mike: Level Jumping: How I Grew My Business to Over $1 Million in Profits in 12 Months WINNING DIRECT MAIL - How to CRUSH IT with direct mail! 7 Figure Investor Video Course - Scale your business to 7 figures. I'll show you how!

Highlights From The Show: Welcome to this version of the Just Start Real Estate Podcast! I am excited to bring you another replay of my Live Question and Answer sessions. For those people that are unable to join us live, this will provide an opportunity to hear the awesome questions I am fielding about business, taking risks, real estate, and so much more! This presentation is the live Q&A that I did the week of January 4th and each Thursday we will offer you another chance to take advantage of listening to the answers to our guests' fabulous and compelling questions! Don't miss this new episode of the Just Start Real Estate Podcast! Notable Quotes: “No, we don't provide comps when asked. We are not a comps service.” “They don't want my comps or repair estimates, because if they are really interested in buying the house, they will run their own.” “I refuse to do other peoples' work for them.” “You have to set the table for a possible price reduction ahead of time.” “Give me 10 days, and I will come back and give you a very honest answer.” “It is very hard to go back for a price-reduction conversation if a price reduction was never discussed as a possibility.” “To me, negotiations are negotiations.” “I would probably try to be smarter about it.” “After my first flip, every other one I funded with private money.” “If I had no private money available, I would find a hard money lender.” “People have gotten comfortable with working outside of the office since Covid, but at the end of the day, it is your company and if you want them in the office, they need to come to the office.” “I don't want to go all Elon Musk on people.” Thank You for Listening! Connect with Mike on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Linkedin, Facebook Help Out the Show: Leave an honest review on iTunes. Your ratings and reviews really help and I read each one. Subscribe on iTunes. More Resources From Mike: Level Jumping: How I Grew My Business to Over $1 Million in Profits in 12 Months WINNING DIRECT MAIL - How to CRUSH IT with direct mail! 7 Figure Investor Video Course - Scale your business to 7 figures. I'll show you how!

Today's Guest: Alex Jarbo Alex is the founder and CEO of Sargon Investments and has an MBA with a concentration in real estate development. He's also a former Marine, a regular contributor to some of the world's top real estate investing podcasts, and the host of the YouTube channel Alex Builds, where he teaches how to build and manage short-term rentals properly. His company, Sargon Investments, is a short-term rental resort development firm whose mission is to provide above-average, double-digit returns to our accredited investors. Highlights From The Show: We begin the episode with Alex sharing his background story and how he ended up in real estate. Alex shares that he grew up in Michigan, and when he turned 18 and graduated from high school, he immediately went to the marine corps and served 4 ½ years. In his final year, Alex felt he wanted to do something more and started reading books on every topic in the business world, and real estate caught his eye. He loved the control and the appreciation of assets in the space. Alex joined a flipping mentorship group while he was still in the marine corps and realized long-term wealth was tied to short-term rentals. He left the military, got his real estate license, and started looking for short-term rentals, but he quickly realized that everything was way out of his price range, and if it was within his price range, it wouldn't have done well. After looking for eight months, Alex decided to build his first property, a ground-up investment he still owns today. We then talk about market selection and where you should be investing. Alex shares that he doesn't recommend investing in natural markets or moving to a brand-new city. According to him, you should start investing in your backyard, and the strategy works. Start by looking for an area where people like taking extended weekend vacations in your market. There are hundreds of these pocket markets throughout the country that nobody knows outside the people that live an hour or two away. Real estate will not only be cheaper but also have a built-in cash flow in those markets. Alex shares that right now, his focus is on doing 6 to 12 cabin cluster developments in the travel city market. He chooses how the property looks based on his research on Pinterest and Instagram, but the most effective way to do it is to search the city you're considering on the Airbnb platform. The top operators will pop up on the home page, and you can model them. Next, we talk about raising money and how a regular investor getting into real estate can finance their deals. Alex shares that there was almost no short-term rental financing when he started investing. He used a second home development loan, and you can still use it. The down payment requirements for this type of loan are very low. The second step is to talk to your local creditors. Don't do it online, don't call them, and don't email them - walk in there. If you need financing, Alex recommends three lending institutions: VCU Lending, Center Street Lending, and Host Financials for short-term rentals. Based on raising capital, Alex shares that there is a difference between raising capital with and without experience. He recommends starting with people in your circle, such as friends and family, if you are just starting out. We then discuss Alex's go-to high-level strategies for evaluating properties and opportunities in the short-term rental space. According to Alex, unique properties are way harder to evaluate, but there are strategies to assist you. Alex shares that prior to COVID, the occupancy break-even rate was 35%, and now it ranges between 42-45%. For him, he underwrites at 65% occupancy and does influencer marketing to increase occupancy, and all his properties are at 90%+ occupancy in both low season and high season. According to Alex, they just started using Stayamo for influencer marketing, and the results are ridiculous. Before looking for people in Stayamo, Alex had influencers coming to him, showing him their engagement rate and asking him whether they could stay on his property, and his answer was yes. Make sure you don't miss another amazing episode of the Just Start Real Estate Podcast with Alex Jardo and get valuable information on building unique short-term rentals! Notable Quotes: “You are not going to be 100%, but the number one thing is to be incredibly conservative.” Alex Jarbo “If you've developed a unique property, it will become an attraction to the guests and during the high season, the market becomes the attraction.” Alex Jarbo “Just because interest rates are hiking on the commercial side, don't let that scare you.“ Alex Jarbo Thank You for Listening! Connect with Mike on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Linkedin, Facebook Help Out the Show: Leave an honest review on iTunes. Your ratings and reviews really help, and I read each one. Subscribe on iTunes. Resources and Links From Today's Show: Sargon Investments Stayamo Alex on LinkedIn Alex on Instagram Alex on YouTube More Resources From Mike: Level Jumping: How I Grew My Business to Over $1 Million in Profits in 12 Months WINNING DIRECT MAIL - How to CRUSH IT with direct mail! 7 Figure Investor Video Course - Scale your business to 7 figures. I'll show you how!

Highlights From The Show: Welcome to this version of the Just Start Real Estate Podcast! I am excited to bring you another replay of my Live Question and Answer sessions. For those people that are unable to join us live, this will provide an opportunity to hear the awesome questions I am fielding about business, taking risks, real estate, and so much more! This presentation is the live Q&A that I did the week of December 28th and each Thursday we will offer you another chance to take advantage of listening to the answers to our guests' fabulous and compelling questions! Don't miss this new episode of the Just Start Real Estate Podcast! Notable Quotes: “Over the years I have tried to make the MLS an efficient marketing strategy with good ROI, and it never really has been.” “It is very hard to pull off a good wholesale deal on the MLS.” “With the house prices going down, there might be some sellers getting antsy about not being able to sell.” “If I were a house flipper I would have a standard MLS agent marketing strategy, no doubt about it.” “Be careful when you reach out to realtors. They get calls from investors all the time. Find ways to insert yourself in their business in a helpful way, in a way that adds value for them.” “Investors often make the mistake of just saying, ‘Gimme, gimme, gimme!'” “If the deal is marginal and they start trying to heap on all sorts of contingencies, I just tell them to go pound sand.” “What the lawyers are trying to do is remove the possibility that we won't buy the house.” “Why not learn fast?” Thank You for Listening! Connect with Mike on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Linkedin, Facebook Help Out the Show: Leave an honest review on iTunes. Your ratings and reviews really help and I read each one. Subscribe on iTunes. More Resources From Mike: Level Jumping: How I Grew My Business to Over $1 Million in Profits in 12 Months WINNING DIRECT MAIL - How to CRUSH IT with direct mail! 7 Figure Investor Video Course - Scale your business to 7 figures. I'll show you how!

Today's Guest: Jim Pfeifer Jim Pfeifer is a Passive Real Estate Investor and Podcast Host. He focuses on helping like-minded individuals invest in real assets and financial strategies to accumulate sustainable wealth, minimize tax, and protect their assets while growing their wealth. Jim's goal is to constantly learn new ways to build wealth and share that information with investors to help them become better and profit from their deals. Highlights From The Show: We begin the episode with Jim sharing his background story and how he ended up in real estate. Jim shares he is an educator and stock investor turned into a passive investor. Jim started in the corporate world and quickly developed himself into a mentor. He then became a teacher and taught finance and accounting, but later transitioned to being a financial adviser. At the same time, he became an accidental landlord after buying a house and being unable to sell his current house because of the recession in 2008. Having another income stream as a landlord and figuring out that paper assets were not a great strategy inspired Jim into active investing. According to him, there is a difference between investing and speculation. Investing, whether active or passive, is buying real assets with a current benefit in the form of cash flow and upside appreciation, while speculation is buying stocks and mutual funds and hoping they increase in value to sell them someday at a higher price. We then talk about how the Left Field Investors community and what they do. Jim shares that they are just a community focused on providing education and networking opportunities for people interested in becoming financially free through investing primarily in syndication deals. He shares that the community has everything, including people who are not accredited and looking to get into their first deal, to people who are accredited or in a 100th deal and have hundreds of dollars in passive income a month. According to Jim, to be a successful real estate syndication investor, you need a community and a network so that you can learn, leverage other people's expertise, find great sponsors and deals, and become a better investor. It's hard to do it by yourself. Next, we talk about the process of finding great sponsors as a beginner. Jim shares that his journey had three stages. When he heard about passive investing, the first thing Jim did was attend a syndication conference. In the seminar, he met some syndicators, and he figured out that if they were there, they were great, and he invested in some of the deals using his 401k. According to Jim, that was very ineffective. Even though not all the deals went sour, right now, he would not invest in such deals. The next step he took was to seek knowledge. He started listening to podcasts, reading books, and reaching out to syndicators from podcasts. This was not a bad strategy, but he didn't know if they were great podcast guests, marketers, or operators. Most of the deals he did in this stage were good, but there are better ways. Jim shares that now, the only way he will invest with new sponsors is if they are introduced to him by someone he knows, likes, and trusts in the community and is already investing with them. Jim still does all the due diligence he would do for a sponsor he doesn't know, but he's often 100 steps ahead by starting from a place of trust. Lastly, we talk about speculating vs. investing and the returns to expect if you want to get involved in syndications. Jim shares that most people are speculating, but they think they are investing. Speculating is buying a piece of paper and hoping it goes up in value while investing is based on investing in real assets with current benefits in the form of cash flow. He also shares that the best range for returns from syndication investments with all factors carved in is 6-10% cash returns annually, which can enable you to double your money every 5 to 10 years. Make sure you don't miss another amazing episode of the Just Start Real Estate Podcast with Jim Pfeifer and get valuable information on syndication investing and why a community is so important! Notable Quotes: “Whether you're an active or passive investor, you are buying a real asset that has a current benefit in the form of cash flow and upside appreciation.” Jim Pfeifer “To be a successful real estate syndication investor, you need a community and a network so that you can learn, leverage other people's expertise, and find great sponsors and deals.” Jim Pfeifer “You should feel no pressure to invest, and if you're getting pressure from an operator, run.” Jim Pfeifer “You have to ensure you're getting into the right deal because you cannot get out of it. If you get into a bad stock, you can sell it, but you're stuck when you get into bad syndication.” Jim Pfeifer Thank You for Listening! Connect with Mike on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Linkedin, Facebook Help Out the Show: Leave an honest review on iTunes. Your ratings and reviews really help, and I read each one. Subscribe on iTunes. Resources and Links From Today's Show: Left Field Investors Jim on LinkedIn Jim on Instagram Jim on Facebook More Resources From Mike: Level Jumping: How I Grew My Business to Over $1 Million in Profits in 12 Months WINNING DIRECT MAIL - How to CRUSH IT with direct mail! 7 Figure Investor Video Course - Scale your business to 7 figures. I'll show you how!

Highlights From The Show: Welcome to this version of the Just Start Real Estate Podcast! I am excited to bring you another replay of my Live Question and Answer sessions. For those people that are unable to join us live, this will provide an opportunity to hear the awesome questions I am fielding about business, taking risks, real estate, and so much more! This presentation is the live Q&A that I did the week of December 21st and each Thursday we will offer you another chance to take advantage of listening to the answers to our guests' fabulous and compelling questions! Don't miss this new episode of the Just Start Real Estate Podcast! Notable Quotes: “That is a lot of learning, making mistakes, and figuring things out.” “Getting leads in real estate is always going to be one of the highest priority things that you do.” “When you say cash flow you are opening that up to a lot of possibilities. There are a lot of variables.” “The problem is those lower cost homes that might cash flow a lot as a long-term rental are likely not in a good neighborhood so the appreciation potential is zilch.” “Traditionally, a more expensive house would not cash flow well. The change in that is the rise in popularity of short-term rentals or Airbnbs.” “You get them to your number by creating rapport, building trust, solving their problem, then telling them what you can pay.” “You never tell them that. That is not the way to approach that at all. You cannot promise something you possibly cannot deliver.” “If you make that the expectation, you are a good guy and no one is mad at you.” “Never, never, never say, ‘I am not the buyer.'” “Don't say anything that is not true." Thank You for Listening! Connect with Mike on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Linkedin, Facebook Help Out the Show: Leave an honest review on iTunes. Your ratings and reviews really help and I read each one. Subscribe on iTunes. More Resources From Mike: Level Jumping: How I Grew My Business to Over $1 Million in Profits in 12 Months WINNING DIRECT MAIL - How to CRUSH IT with direct mail! 7 Figure Investor Video Course - Scale your business to 7 figures. I'll show you how!

Today's Guest: Sief Khafagi Sief is the CEO and Co-founder of Techvestor, a company that acquires and operates STRs (short-term rentals) through data-driven and tech-enabled short-term rental funds. Techvestor allows you to invest passively in STRs through a done-for-you strategy that enables you to diversify your short-term rental portfolio. Sief has worked with HNWI, private equity partners, family offices, and institutions to start, scale, and grow portfolios in 15+ markets. Previously, he founded Scoutpads, whose mission was helping thousands of tech employees diversify into real estate after spending nearly five years as a Facebook engineer. Highlights From The Show: We begin the episode with Sief sharing his background story and what he does in the short-term rental space. He shares that he is the CEO and Co-founder of Techvestor. One of the first data-driven and tech-enabled short-term rental funds that allow investors to invest passively into this asset class without doing all the work that usually comes with it. This means that there is no finding it, no designing, no furnishing it, no running it, and no operating it. They provide a completely passive experience and are running about 20 million dollars in short-term rental funds. He shares that all of these are for passive investors who are in 9 different markets, and they hit the ground with great performance aggregate even in this inflationary environment. According to Sief, short-term rentals are the next great asset class to be institutionalized because people will chase you for mobility and a flexible lifestyle. We then discuss Sief's investment strategy and why he believes short-term rentals are here to stay. Sief shares that short-term and vacation rentals have been around for decades, and the trend is here to stay. He also shares that they believe in human behaviors and that people want local experiences. For them, they are predominantly focusing on 4-bedroom or larger homes. People traveling in groups tend to choose Airbnb over hotels because they are more economical, provide a great experience and enable them to stay together, which is an integral part of being in a group setting. Sief also explains that they explore different options and use a data-driven perspective to find what is in demand and low-risk opportunities in different markets. They are institutionalizing the asset class they are offering, enabling them to command and offer various features that others don't provide by either choice or lack of knowledge. Next, we talk about Sief's strategy of finding properties and how he drives better occupancy in his short-term rentals. Sief shares that Airbnb is a product, and there is a user journey to how everything works. He explains that Airbnb is like Google, and for you to show up on the 1st, 2nd, or 3rd page, you have to rank, and there are strategies to ranking, such as photo quality, description, tenure, and reviews. According to him, ranking is arguably the most important thing because people rarely go to page 10 of the Airbnb platform. For them, they optimize the journey to give them the most optimal chance to rank and profit from their clientele's journey. They use models for their property depending on the demand of the different types of clientele in the market. Sief also shares that they find properties through MLS and bring key people into their team to give them key advantages and access. They also do mailing for off-market properties because they know their exact buy box, which they refer to as their golden circle. They know what exactly they want to buy, the type of property, where it's located, and what they are willing to pay for. We then discuss Sief 's investment model, the Done For You investment model, and how it works. Sief shares that if anyone wants to have their own short-term rental, they charge $65,000 for all the services. They find the property, design, furnish, run, and operate it. This is their standard rate, but if you want to purchase 15 or 20 of them, there is a negotiation level that happens at scale. According to Sief, everything else is passive and hands-off for you, and he recommends this option to anyone who wants to REI for tax purposes, wants to get their hands off and use it for their family. Their fund is a better option, and most investors pick it because it's passive, and all the stuff gets handled for you without you having to do anything for yourself. Sief shares that the most significant rule is diversification. Lastly, we talk about the software that you can rely on to analyze properties that are available to the public. Sief shares that for him, he would use all of them, including AirDNA, which provides you access to data that gives an idea of what that property may do. He shares that one of his favorites, which is more manual, is signing up for a rank race. It will allow you to understand where other properties rank and, most importantly, their prices, how they look, and occupancy. He recommends going to the Airbnb platform and finding your closest 5 to 10 competitors with properties that look, feel, and are the same size as yours. Look at their dynamic pricing and create your analysis to understand how the properties work in the current market. Sief also encourages you to use data going back to 2018 (pre-pandemic) and compare it to understand the trends, the history of where you're buying, and your risks to close profitable deals. Make sure you don't miss another amazing episode of the Just Start Real Estate Podcast with Sief Khafagi and get valuable information on how to invest in short-term rental! Notable Quotes: “Short-term rentals are the next great asset class to be institutionalized because people are chasing mobility and flexible lifestyles.” Sief Khafagi “The Airbnb Platform is like Google, and for you to show up on the 1st, 2nd or 3rd page you've to rank, and there are strategies for ranking such as photo quality, description, tenure, and reviews.“ Sief Khafagi “The Airbnb platform is cost-effective compared to starting, launching, and running your own brand and traffic. A lot of investors underestimate the efforts of building a brand successfully and at a reasonable scale versus going to a marketplace that exists.” Sief Khafagi Thank You for Listening! Connect with Mike on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Linkedin, Facebook Help Out the Show: Leave an honest review on iTunes. Your ratings and reviews really help, and I read each one. Subscribe on iTunes. Resources and Links From Today's Show: Techvestor Sief on LinkedIn Sief on Instagram Sief on Twitter More Resources From Mike: Level Jumping: How I Grew My Business to Over $1 Million in Profits in 12 Months WINNING DIRECT MAIL - How to CRUSH IT with direct mail! 7 Figure Investor Video Course - Scale your business to 7 figures. I'll show you how!

Highlights From The Show: Welcome to this version of the Just Start Real Estate Podcast! I am excited to bring you another replay of my Live Question and Answer sessions. For those people that are unable to join us live, this will provide an opportunity to hear the awesome questions I am fielding about business, taking risks, real estate, and so much more! This presentation is the live Q&A that I did the week of December 14th and each Thursday we will offer you another chance to take advantage of listening to the answers to our guests' fabulous and compelling questions! Don't miss this new episode of the Just Start Real Estate Podcast! Notable Quotes: “My first instinct is to say, ‘Don't quit college.'” “You get the basics and you will improve and get better over time.” “Don't have a project that is 98% complete and chose not to finish.” “You can flip houses AND go to college at the same time.” “When you are in your 20s, you can't really screw up too badly because you are just so early on in the game.” “College teaches you how to start and complete something and that is a very valuable lesson.” “You have already gotten over the biggest hurdle of all - getting started.” “If you are not seeing success with mailers, go grab my free course Winning Direct Mail.” “My answer to questions like this is always, ‘Give it a try!'” “Door knocking is very hard to scale.” “Some marketing channels are going to net smaller results and therefore may be a supplemental strategy.” Thank You for Listening! Connect with Mike on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Linkedin, Facebook Help Out the Show: Leave an honest review on iTunes. Your ratings and reviews really help and I read each one. Subscribe on iTunes. More Resources From Mike: Level Jumping: How I Grew My Business to Over $1 Million in Profits in 12 Months WINNING DIRECT MAIL - How to CRUSH IT with direct mail! 7 Figure Investor Video Course - Scale your business to 7 figures. I'll show you how!

Today's Guest: Andy McFarland Andy is not only a successful investor and mentor but also a close personal friend. He and I have traveled together as members of the 7 Figure Flipping Mastermind, and his stellar character and willingness to encourage others to succeed have aided him in his journey to becoming a self-made expert in the world of real estate. Highlights From The Show: I first asked Andy to talk about how the world of investing has changed in the last 5 years, the strategies he's implemented, and the lessons he's learned. First, and most importantly, Andy emphasizes the necessity of authenticity within the business. This applies not only to your customers, but your employees, or as Andy calls them, his team. We discuss the (understandable) tendencies of newcomers who are looking for that hidden gem or technique that is sure to help them rise to the top, forgetting that being genuine is what really ensures success. Andy talks about the dangers of cramming sales techniques down the throats of your customers and how that always ends in disaster. Of course, profits matter. Sales matter. But people matter much, much more. In this business, it's not uncommon to have high turnover rates. Andy and I agreed that our teams look much different than they did initially, and more often than not, for good reason. People tend to move on to new avenues and adventures, and what was right for them at a previous time may not be in the future. Andy's business and team have both changed in big ways since their origin, and he's grateful for the lives he's been able to touch every step of the way. Andy also advises leaders to never forget to stay current. He told the story of his struggle to push through a period of frustration with his team, who wasn't implementing certain strategies he was advising. They were never unreceptive, but he noticed that they weren't attempting the encouraged methods. In hopes of understanding their resistance, he went back into the field himself and discovered quickly that the game had changed. His employees had adapted to the new industry, and he had failed to keep up. When he began reconnecting with sellers, he began to feel the benefits of this human element for the first time in a long time. We then dove deep into the blessings of what we do, and why we do it. As a man of faith, Andy believes that God has used his position in this business to meet true, human needs. He recalled an incident of a seller who was in deep, financial decline. Some investors, Andy says, may have been tempted to walk away from the deal, fearful that the investment wouldn't be worth their while. Others may have even taken advantage of this man's desperation. However, Andy chose to show grace and compassion. He listened to the man and worked alongside him to make a plan to help him pick himself up. Though the money made from this investment wouldn't be outrageous, humanity took precedence and Andy was able to bless this family in a way that only he could, simply because he took the time to listen. We ended the discussion on the issue of comparison. Many steps into this business with the hope of having more time for what matters to them: time with loved ones, things you enjoy, etc. However, they fall into the never-ending circle of wanting more simply for the sake of having more. When people have a 1 million dollar company, they then want a 10 million dollar company, and then a 100 million dollar company, and so on. Making more money almost always leads to spending more money if you're not wise, and won't bring satisfaction like knowing that you live a life loving others well and impacting them positively. Andy is the guy in our 7 Figure Flipping Mastermind group that we call “the rabbit” because people are always chasing after him for the big secret of success, or simply because his realness is so attractive. Give this episode a listen to hear his best-advised tactic, which really isn't a tactic at all. For more information on our 7 Figure Flipping Mastermind group, feel free to contact me and I'll make sure to get you more information. Notable Quotes: “What have I learned over the years? The people matter. The people matter in all aspects of the business. Your business is your people.” Andy McFarland “What I want most is to have an impact on people's lives. Not a thousand people's lives. I want to have an impact on one person's life, one at a time. And if that happens a thousand times great. Andy McFarland “There are few people I know in the industry who truly do right by people intentionally and for no gain… or leverage. I think people need to hear that.” Mike Simmons “I'm not at all saying don't try to make money and grow your business, because you should, because you can do more good that way. But I think building a company that provides income for those who work for you feels better than closing a deal.” Mike Simmons “Find good people, treat them well.” Mike Simmons We all feel better when we serve people.” Andy McFarland “The problem is, in the beginning, people are so freaked out about getting a deal that they go in there with that energy and they struggle.” Michael Simmons “Money amplifies what you already are. It won't change your life. It will just make you more of what you already are.” Andy McFarland “The reason why people are unhappy - it all boils down to comparison.” Michael Simmons Thank You for Listening! Connect with Mike on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Linkedin, Facebook Help Out the Show: Leave an honest review on iTunes. Your ratings and reviews really help, and I read each one. Subscribe on iTunes. Resources and Links From Today's Show: 7 Figure Flipping Flip Hacking Live Elite Homebuyers Rich Dad Poor Dad The Total Money Makeover More Resources From Mike: Level Jumping: How I Grew My Business to Over $1 Million in Profits in 12 Months WINNING DIRECT MAIL - How to CRUSH IT with direct mail! 7 Figure Investor Video Course - Scale your business to 7 figures. I'll show you how!

Highlights From The Show: Welcome to this version of the Just Start Real Estate Podcast! I am excited to bring you another replay of my Live Question and Answer sessions. For those people that are unable to join us live, this will provide an opportunity to hear the awesome questions I am fielding about business, taking risks, real estate, and so much more! This presentation is the live Q&A that I did the week of December 7th and each Thursday we will offer you another chance to take advantage of listening to the answers to our guests' fabulous and compelling questions! Don't miss this new episode of the Just Start Real Estate Podcast! Notable Quotes: “Leads are oxygen. Your company cannot survive without leads.” “What is a healthy return in the Midwest is very different from a healthy return in California.” “In my opinion, if you are going to do rentals, you need to be in double-digit returns.” “If you are not at 10% ROI, I think there are potentially better things you can do with your money.” “Sometimes the first-time homeowners are challenging to deal with because they have never been through the process before.” “I like to see new investors send out 3,000 to 5,000 direct mail pieces per month.” “How do you get 2 to 3 deals per month? That is 100% a math problem.” “You need to get your first few deals and see how many mailers it took, and then amp it up.” “As investors, we are buying distressed properties from distressed homeowners.” “It is typically one contract per three appointments, and it usually takes us twenty leads to get one appointment.” “We build a Facebook page with owner-financed buyers.” Thank You for Listening! Connect with Mike on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Linkedin, Facebook Help Out the Show: Leave an honest review on iTunes. Your ratings and reviews really help and I read each one. Subscribe on iTunes. More Resources From Mike: Level Jumping: How I Grew My Business to Over $1 Million in Profits in 12 Months WINNING DIRECT MAIL - How to CRUSH IT with direct mail! 7 Figure Investor Video Course - Scale your business to 7 figures. I'll show you how!

Today's Guest: Taylor Loht Taylor is a real estate investor focusing on multifamily apartments and self-storage properties. To date, he has acquired, partnered on, or otherwise had a hand in over $150 million dollars in commercial real estate deals. He has made it his mission to help others learn how to escape Wall Street and build wealth on Main Street. Highlights From The Show: We begin the episode with Taylor sharing his background story and how he ended up in real estate. He shares that he invests in commercial multifamily and self-storage. His investment journey started a decade ago after graduating from college and finding a job. The first investing book he read was The Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Gram, and it got him started in the stock market. After doing well for a few years, he realized that it was not going to produce financial freedom for him. Taylor wanted to make more money, and through exploration and listening to real estate podcasts he was led to Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki. The book highlighted the big expense of pursuing an MBA that he wanted and the power of passive cash flow through real estate investing. Taylor decided to get on the real estate path, which took 2 years to get things going and figure out what he wanted to do in the space. We then talk about where Taylor started investing in real estate. Taylor shares that he is an introvert, but the first thing he did to get into real estate was networking. It was a big struggle for him, but Taylor went to local realtors and started learning about their strategies. He kept on digging, meeting with wholesalers, flippers, and single-family investors, and ultimately what gave him the spark was investing in large multi-family, and he dove into it. Taylor shares that the space was exciting, and he had big goals but didn't have the money to get involved in these kinds of deals. He started out by learning about syndication and how people closed big deals when they didn't have all the money, and he set out to get involved. Taylor didn't know what that would look like, but he hired a coach and started networking, building his own brand, going to conferences, and, ultimately, starting a podcast. Next, we talk about how to find multifamily deals and raise money when you have no experience in the space. Taylor shares that the first step is working on your limiting beliefs and aligning yourself with people with the experience. You can do this by getting them on your team or by getting on their team. According to Taylor, no matter the type of deals you're doing, real estate is a relationship and network-driven business. Whether you are doing flips, BRRRRs, or large multifamily deals, who you know is definitely a big part of doing business effectively. People are more willing to partner with people who they know, who can deliver, and who have mutual and shared interests. It is vital to find people who have the experience you need and who you can work with on any given deal to leverage their experience. We then discuss how and where to start investing in multifamily. Taylor shares that it's a personal decision; you must know yourself, your willingness, and what you want. He recommends that you go for what you want, whether it's single-family or small multifamily. Regardless, there is money to be made, but he advises not to get stuck there if you want to scale up. He shares that there are people who are killing it and making big money in different ranges, including in small and mid-size multifamily. According to Taylor, investing in real estate comes back to individual preference and how you want to attack the strategy. However, if you are looking to go straight to big multifamily investing, it's also possible. Taylor recommends you find a syndicator and work for them or a thought leader in the space to learn, build your experience, and network to make progress. Lastly, we talk about how to find deals in the multifamily space. Taylor shares that you can find them off-market, but they often go through brokers. In the time he has been in the space, Taylor shares that he has done a handful of deals that didn't use a broker to negotiate or handle the transaction. The deals came about through building relationships at conferences, not sending emails or offers to people, and getting responses. According to him, if you are interested in building off-market deal flow in the commercial real estate space, there are enormous opportunities in self-storage and small and mid-multifamily properties still owned by individual investors. However, in the bigger space, it's pretty much brokerage. Make sure you don't miss another amazing episode of the Just Start Real Estate Podcast with Taylor Loht and get valuable information on how to get started in multifamily! Notable Quotes: “Syndication is not a no-money down type of game.” Taylor Loht “Property managers shouldn't have ownership in the property. You should be able to terminate them in case of a problem.“ Taylor Loht “Asking people what they need is a great way to get them to talk to you even if they don't need anything and then you get the experience you want from them.” Mike Simmons Thank You for Listening! Connect with Mike on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Linkedin, Facebook Help Out the Show: Leave an honest review on iTunes. Your ratings and reviews really help, and I read each one. Subscribe on iTunes. Resources and Links From Today's Show: Passive Wealth Strategy Passive Wealth Strategy Podcast Passive Real Estate Course Taylor on Facebook More Resources From Mike: Level Jumping: How I Grew My Business to Over $1 Million in Profits in 12 Months WINNING DIRECT MAIL - How to CRUSH IT with direct mail! 7 Figure Investor Video Course - Scale your business to 7 figures. I'll show you how!

Highlights From The Show: Welcome to this version of the Just Start Real Estate Podcast! I am excited to bring you another replay of my Live Question and Answer sessions. For those people that are unable to join us live, this will provide an opportunity to hear the awesome questions I am fielding about business, taking risks, real estate, and so much more! This presentation is the live Q&A that I did the week of November 30th and each Thursday we will offer you another chance to take advantage of listening to the answers to our guests' fabulous and compelling questions! Don't miss this new episode of the Just Start Real Estate Podcast! Notable Quotes: “There is no way an online experience creates a deeper, more meaningful, impactful relationship than in person. There is just no way.” “I don't think anyone can really multitask.” “Even more than a maintenance cost issue, a long-term rental with a pool can be a liability issue.” “Raising rents on a tenant-occupied rental that you just bought is 100% legal, but what are your ethical obligations?” “Giving tenants more time to either figure out how to pay more rent or move is nice, but not required.” “The market, or consumers, have the right to tell you, ‘That rent is too high and I am not willing to pay it.'” “That is just how business is done all the time with multifamily investments. Why would you question it for a single-family house?” “Please be a nice person, but don't feel like you are doing anything immoral or unethical by raising the rent to fair market value.” Thank You for Listening! Connect with Mike on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Linkedin, Facebook Help Out the Show: Leave an honest review on iTunes. Your ratings and reviews really help and I read each one. Subscribe on iTunes. More Resources From Mike: Level Jumping: How I Grew My Business to Over $1 Million in Profits in 12 Months WINNING DIRECT MAIL - How to CRUSH IT with direct mail! 7 Figure Investor Video Course - Scale your business to 7 figures. I'll show you how!

Today's Guests: Rob Badhorn & Ernie Vargas In this episode, I get the chance to interview fellow 7 Figure Flippers Rob Badhorn and Ernie Vargas. Rob lives in Arizona, but performs flips and owns rentals in Ohio. He worked in corporate America for 23+ years, handing $1.5B in revenue for Sales Teams Across USA. He is constantly building multiple streams of income, especially during these challenging times, as he considers himself a serial entrepreneur. Rob's rental portfolio includes the flips and/or wholesale of 100+ homes utilizing the marketing strategies of Direct Mail, Bandit Signs, Cold Calling, RVM's/Voice broadcast, FB Custom Audiences, and Texting. He also owns a software company specializing in Lead Generation and Skip Tracing. Highlights From The Show: Ernie Vargas purchased his first house in 1994 and continued doing real estate while working full-time, but he didn't hit the success he felt he was capable of. In 1999, after an accident that left him in a coma, he realized that life was short, so he quit his job and went into investing full-time. Eventually, probate hit his radar and started him on a quest to learn all he could about this niche that no one had answers for. After many years of specializing in probate, Ernie has become a true probate expert, often helping attorneys and their clients in the probate process. His ability to think outside the box coupled with his expertise in negotiating and marketing has allowed him to help several hundreds of investors, agents, and sellers get deals closed. Now Ernie not only has more time to spend with his wife and four kids, but he gets to do what he truly loves doing - helping everyday people create wealth and personal freedom. The guys first began by giving us their backgrounds and what lead them to real estate investing. Ernie described the moment that really changed things for him when he was working as a freezer stocker at a warehouse store that would eventually become Costco. His boss said something to him that made him realize that he wanted much more from life. He changed jobs and on his way to his first day of training, ended up getting into a terrible car accident that left him in a coma. This experience, coupled with a seminar he went to, completely changed his thinking. Rob said his journey was similar to a lot of other investors - he read Rich Dad, Poor Dad, and went to a few seminars, but he said he has always had the bug to get the passive income stream going. He was in the corporate world but purchased a couple of rentals in order to make up his salary so that he could invest full-time. Joining the 7 Figure Flipping mastermind group really changed everything for him. Rob talked about his rental portfolio and how he manages the properties himself while employing one handyman to do the work. I asked how much of the work he actually does himself as far as background checks, collecting rent, etc. and Rob said he thought the thing that changed the most in the past several years was the software available for property management. Even though he has a large rental portfolio, Rob felt the need to expand into other forms of real estate investing to develop multiple income streams, which is why he and Ernie partnered up. I wanted to dig deep into the details of their partnership because so many people struggle with making this work. Ernie said they both have different areas of expertise; Rob is really strong in the area of technology related to real estate and Ernie has become a probate specialist. They had met at a 7 Figure Flipping event and Ernie called Rob concerning skip tracing and the rest is history. We also discussed the issues with probate investing which have been intensified by the COVID-19 pandemic situation. There is so much talk about this type of investing being deceitful that I wanted the guys to explain how they actually help people with integrity. Ernie talked about how many investors shy away from this type of work, but that the demand for people-loving investors is so high because there is a real need to help those who are grieving through the process. These two investors bring so much to the proverbial table and share so much information with you in this episode of Just Start Real Estate. Don't miss my conversation with Rob Badhorn and Ernie Vargas! Notable Quotes: “We get lessons out of anything we experience in life if we allow them to change us.” Ernie Vargas “I was bitten by the idea of opportunity and change.” Ernie Vargas “Have a goal, give that goal a deadline, write it down, and go out and take action.” Ernie Vargas “You do what you can with what you have.” Ernie Vargas “You have to be ready when opportunities come.” Ernie Vargas “The NBA did not work out for me.” Rob Badhorn “It's like bringing a puppy to the park if you are looking for a date.” Mike Simmons “When it can bring value not only to myself but to other people, that's what really gets me excited.” Rob Badhorn “There is a lot more value than just buying the leads themselves.” Rob Badhorn “The ultimate motivated seller is probate.” Ernie Vargas “You have to have a passion for people in this probate business.” Ernie Vargas “Keep moving forward.” Ernie Vargas Thank You for Listening! Connect with Mike on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Linkedin, Facebook Help Out the Show: Leave an honest review on iTunes. Your ratings and reviews really help, and I read each one. Subscribe on iTunes. Resources and Links From Today's Show: Rich Dad, Poor Dad 7 Figure Flipping Buildium LeadFuzion Ernie's Website More Resources From Mike: Level Jumping: How I Grew My Business to Over $1 Million in Profits in 12 Months WINNING DIRECT MAIL - How to CRUSH IT with direct mail! 7 Figure Investor Video Course - Scale your business to 7 figures. I'll show you how!

Highlights From The Show: Welcome to this version of the Just Start Real Estate Podcast! I am excited to bring you another replay of my Live Question and Answer sessions. For those people that are unable to join us live, this will provide an opportunity to hear the awesome questions I am fielding about business, taking risks, real estate, and so much more! This presentation is the live Q&A that I did the week of November 23rd and each Thursday we will offer you another chance to take advantage of listening to the answers to our guests' fabulous and compelling questions! Don't miss this new episode of the Just Start Real Estate Podcast! Notable Quotes: “There is no way an online experience creates a deeper, more meaningful, impactful relationship than in person. There is just no way.” “I don't think anyone can really multitask.” “Even more than a maintenance cost issue, a long-term rental with a pool can be a liability issue.” “Raising rents on a tenant-occupied rental that you just bought is 100% legal, but what are your ethical obligations?” “Giving tenants more time to either figure out how to pay more rent or move is nice, but not required.” “The market, or consumers, have the right to tell you, ‘That rent is too high and I am not willing to pay it.'” “That is just how business is done all the time with multifamily investments. Why would you question it for a single-family house?” “Please be a nice person, but don't feel like you are doing anything immoral or unethical by raising the rent to fair market value.” Thank You for Listening! Connect with Mike on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Linkedin, Facebook Help Out the Show: Leave an honest review on iTunes. Your ratings and reviews really help and I read each one. Subscribe on iTunes. More Resources From Mike: Level Jumping: How I Grew My Business to Over $1 Million in Profits in 12 Months WINNING DIRECT MAIL - How to CRUSH IT with direct mail! 7 Figure Investor Video Course - Scale your business to 7 figures. I'll show you how!

Today's Guest: Neil Timmins Neil is the CEO of Legacy Impact Partners and has invested in real estate opportunities ranging from houses and apartments to industrial and medical offices. Neil's entry point into the industry was as a realtor with RE/MAX. Longing to quit forfeiting time for dollars, Neil moved into real estate investing. Like so many other investors, Neil began with single-family homes but has progressed into assets consisting of apartments, offices, and industrial space. While he owns a company that completes wholesale, renovation, and rehab transactions, Neil's passion is now in cash flow investing in commercial real estate. Over the course of his career, Neil has been involved in over $300M in real estate transactions and is the host of the Real Grit podcast. Highlights From The Show: We begin the episode with Neil sharing his background story and how he ended up in real estate. He shares that he started his journey in real estate brokerage 18 years ago, moved to single-family homes, and then to commercial real estate over the last few years. Neil shares that his mom, a stay-at-home mom, started a year before him. She has been in real estate for almost 20 years, and her entry point back into the workforce was as a realtor. She motivated Neil into it, and he knew if his mother could do it, he could do it better. We then talk about what attracted Neil to the investment side of real estate. Neil shares that he had a tremendous run. He was making pretty good money and wanted to do more. The stock market was scary for him, and the best option for him was to invest in a rental property. Prior to this, Neil was doing some fix and flip, and the experience gave him an edge when it came to investing in rental properties. The deal went well, and Neil decided to pick a little more and go down the rabbit hole. Neil shares that he never went to listing appointments as a realtor but as an investor in the direct seller market. However, in some cases, when he couldn't make the numbers work as an investor, he provided guidance on how to get the property on the listing. Next, we talk about why Neil decided to move from fix and flip to investing in rental properties. Neil shares that being a realtor is a job, being a fix and flipper is a better job, but investing in rental properties is wealth building. He wanted to get onto a wealth-building path by acquiring assets and building his equity. On the single-family and apartment side, Neil has two sections of his portfolio, B and C. Neil also shares that they moved into commercial real estate about four years ago. According to him, the cash flow, the management of the property, and the ability to be efficient and get more returns are easier compared to single-family. We then talk about commercial real estate and how Neil is investing in the space. Neil shares that he is an asset-class narcissist and is always looking for good deals to wrap his head around. He focuses on building true relationships, having an understanding of what will transpire in the market, and getting comfortable with multiple asset classes. Neil shares that he's in apartments and he also invests with partners in deals outside his market such as in self-storage, industrial buildings, and offices. According to Neil, the industrial market has been a great asset class in the last four years, but the office assets were dramatically impacted as a result of COVID. Lastly, we talk about how Neil manages his portfolio without making it a job. Neil shares that the first step is to delegate. Having the ability to delegate and build the right team with the right talents is a significant backbone. Give people the space to do it, own it, be accountable, and grow without micromanaging them. Managing your properties can become a job, but delegating the work will help you get your hands off the terrible. Neil also shares more about his podcast, Real Grit, which combines all the tools you need to build your real estate legacy. Make sure you don't miss another amazing episode of the Just Start Real Estate Podcast with Neil Timmins and get valuable information on how to move from realtor to flipper to commercial investing! Notable Quotes: “Being a realtor is a job, being a flipper is a better job, but investing in rental properties is wealth building.” Neil Timmins “Having the ability to delegate and build the right team is a significant backbone in managing your real estate portfolio without turning it into a job.“ Neil Timmins “Bring people in, give them the space to do it, own it, be accountable, and grow without micromanaging them.” Mike Simmons Thank You for Listening! Connect with Mike on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Linkedin, Facebook Help Out the Show: Leave an honest review on iTunes. Your ratings and reviews really help, and I read each one. Subscribe on iTunes. Resources and Links From Today's Show: Getting Rich In The 20x Niche Gift Real Grit Podcast Legacy Impact Partners Neil on LinkedIn Neil on Facebook Neil on Instagram More Resources From Mike: Level Jumping: How I Grew My Business to Over $1 Million in Profits in 12 Months WINNING DIRECT MAIL - How to CRUSH IT with direct mail! 7-Figure Investor Video Course - Scale your business to 7 figures. I'll show you how!

Highlights From The Show: Welcome to this version of the Just Start Real Estate Podcast! I am excited to bring you another replay of my Live Question and Answer sessions. For those people that are unable to join us live, this will provide an opportunity to hear the awesome questions I am fielding about business, taking risks, real estate, and so much more! This presentation is the live Q&A that I did the week of November 16th and each Thursday we will offer you another chance to take advantage of listening to the answers to our guests' fabulous and compelling questions! Don't miss this new episode of the Just Start Real Estate Podcast! Notable Quotes: “Do not apologize! That is why I do these Lives. I prefer when people jump on and ask questions.” “My company does not wholesale anything that is listed on the MLS.” “It is infinitely easier to get a property off the MLS first before wholesaling it.” “If the realtor is the one that brought us that seller, they will be compensated.” “I am not trying to avoid the realtor's commission, I am trying to avoid the realtor's involvement.” “One of the main things you want to look at is time on market.” “We use ListSource as investors for finding houses to buy.” “You want to make sure you are going into a market where houses are moving.” “You definitely want pictures or a video walkthrough of a property before you buy out-of-state.” “You have to start with good numbers.” “It just doesn't make sense to try to figure it out on your own.” “I think coaching and masterminds are the best way to grow your business. The information you get is curated - what you need when you need it.” “My goal is to do way more in 2023 than I originally planned because the opportunities are tremendous.” Thank You for Listening! Connect with Mike on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Linkedin, Facebook Help Out the Show: Leave an honest review on iTunes. Your ratings and reviews really help and I read each one. Subscribe on iTunes. More Resources From Mike: Level Jumping: How I Grew My Business to Over $1 Million in Profits in 12 Months WINNING DIRECT MAIL - How to CRUSH IT with direct mail! 7 Figure Investor Video Course - Scale your business to 7 figures. I'll show you how!

Today's Guest: Gary Beasley In this episode, I have the opportunity to interview Roofstock CEO, Gary Beasley. Roofstock is a leading real estate investment marketplace that he co-founded in 2015. Gary caught the entrepreneurial bug while earning an MBA at Stanford, and spent most of his career building businesses in the real estate, hospitality, and tech sectors. Highlights From The Show: We began as we often do by diving into Gary's background. He talked about growing up in small midwestern towns learning a bit about the business from his dad who owned a commercial real estate brokerage firm. Gary said things really changed for him when he went to school at Northwestern and how the environment really opened his eyes to the different possibilities available to him. He decided to go to business school after working a couple of years in real estate, thinking that he wanted to do something different but ended up right back in real estate after earning his MBA from Stanford. Gary talked about his early work experience and his different roles. He talked about how much he learned and how his confidence grew when he was able to perform duties that he had not done previously. After several years as a CFO and president for ZipRealty, he decided to take a year off to work on various projects. He took some time to teach some entrepreneur courses at Stanford and ended up making a proposal to a solar panel technology company that led to another leadership role. Gary took some time to explain the circumstances that led him to start Roofstock and the advantages of their platform. Some of these include fast sales, costs associated with selling homes are lower than through traditional means, there is no downtime for the investment and very little disruption to the tenant. As part of this discussion, I talked a lot about why using Roofstock is desirable for an investor in my situation. Gary outlined several of the benefits and guarantees that are integral to the Roofstock marketplace. We then discussed where Gary thinks the housing market is headed. He said that it is so hard to predict the future because there are so many variables, but it is very interesting that the housing market is still so hot after several months of the pandemic. He stressed that because of the pandemic, people are valuing their homesteads more than ever and that is having an interesting impact on the market. Gary has an incredibly interesting background and was a great guest, so please join us for this uber-informative episode of the Just Start Real Estate Podcast! Notable Quotes: “One of the best things about college is how it expands your horizons and your viewpoint of what is possible.” Mike Simmons “I encourage people to view college as a time of exploration and not necessarily as a practical, pre-professional period.” Gary Beasley “College really teaches you how to think.” Gary Beasley “Early in your career, do things for the experience, not for the money.” Gary Beasley “The more difficult the decision, the less it matters what you decide.” Gary Beasley “You lean on experts that can help you.” Gary Beasley “Make sure you are surrounded by the right people.” Gary Beasley “Embrace the process and everything will be okay.” Gary Beasley “If you stay where you are comfortable, I hope you are comfortable where you currently are because that is where you will remain.” Mike Simmons “We are trying to break down the geographic barriers to real estate investing.” Gary Beasley “When you are building a marketplace, it has to be on a foundation of trust.” Gary Beasley “It has to be trust first, then growth, and then profitability.” Gary Beasley Thank You for Listening! Connect with Mike on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Linkedin, Facebook Help Out the Show: Leave an honest review on iTunes. Your ratings and reviews really help, and I read each one. Subscribe on iTunes. Resources and Links From Today's Show: Roofstock More Resources From Mike: Level Jumping: How I Grew My Business to Over $1 Million in Profits in 12 Months WINNING DIRECT MAIL - How to CRUSH IT with direct mail! 7 Figure Investor Video Course - Scale your business to 7 figures. I'll show you how!

Highlights From The Show: Welcome to this version of the Just Start Real Estate Podcast! I am excited to bring you another replay of my Live Question and Answer sessions. For those people that are unable to join us live, this will provide an opportunity to hear the awesome questions I am fielding about business, taking risks, real estate, and so much more! This presentation is the live Q&A that I did the week of November 9th and each Thursday we will offer you another chance to take advantage of listening to the answers to our guests' fabulous and compelling questions! Don't miss this new episode of the Just Start Real Estate Podcast! Notable Quotes: “The opportunities are just off the charts on what we can accomplish in this market.” “I didn't know what I didn't know.” “I think we are going to look back at this time 10 years from now and think we missed some opportunities just because we were scared of the market changes.” “The targets and numbers you use to calculate profit for a flip are probably going to stay the same even when you have some experience.” “Your profit margin isn't always a representation of what will make you happy, but also a built-in margin of error.” “Build in at least a $20k profit margin on the first $100k so that you have some wiggle room if you run into issues with the rehab.” “You don't want to be on a high wire without a safety net.” “Shoot for a profit margin of at least 15% on the retail price.” “You want to look at what house prices have done in your market since May, since that is really when the market started to decline.” “We don't put inspection contingencies in our contracts. What we have are funding contingencies.” Thank You for Listening! Connect with Mike on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Linkedin, Facebook Help Out the Show: Leave an honest review on iTunes. Your ratings and reviews really help and I read each one. Subscribe on iTunes. More Resources From Mike: Level Jumping: How I Grew My Business to Over $1 Million in Profits in 12 Months WINNING DIRECT MAIL - How to CRUSH IT with direct mail! 7 Figure Investor Video Course - Scale your business to 7 figures. I'll show you how!

Today's Guest: Jay Conner Jay is a “real estate magician,” a proven expert in the private money space, and has been a full-time real estate entrepreneur for 14 years. Since his encounter with private money in 2009 after losing his line of credit, he has never asked anyone for money. Without using his own money or credit, Jay maximizes creative methods to buy and sell properties and works seemingly magical deals for buyers and sellers alike. From his experience raising private money over the years, Jay has developed new, easy and simple techniques for raising all the private money you will ever want for your real estate deals. Highlights From The Show: We begin the episode with Jay sharing his background story and how he ended up specializing in private money. He shares that he got into private money as a result of a need, and all his quantum leaps in business and finances came out of big problems and challenges that he had to push through. For his first six years in real estate, Jay was primarily devoted to investing in single-family houses and relied on the local bank to finance his deals. He had one lender that he relied on for six years, but in January 2009, he learned a lesson the hard way. Jay had two houses under contract that he needed the bank to fund, but he learned he had lost his line of credit as the banks had stopped lending to real estate investors. Jay was not the only one, but he had to figure it out and landed on private money as a solution through a friend. He learned what private money was and how it works and put his program together, and since 2009, he has never asked anyone for money. Jay started teaching people he knew and had a relationship with, and from just being a teacher, he was able to attract over $2M in less than 90 days, and his business tripled. We then talk about what private money is and what Jay teaches people about it. Jay shares that private money is not commercial money. It's not getting money from the bank. It's not getting money from an institution and does not equal hard money. Private money is when we, as real estate investors, borrow money to fund deals from individuals just like us, and they loan us their money from their liquid funds, investment funds, or retirement funds. Jay shares that right now, he has 44 private lenders that are funding his deals, and he has 20 projects going on simultaneously. Over 50% of his private lenders who are funding his deals are doing it from their retirement funds, and none of them had ever heard about private money, but he was able to educate them. According to him, when you are able to educate other people about private money, there is no chasing, there is no begging, and there is no selling. Instead, the lenders are chasing you. Next, we talk about why private lenders would lend you their money even when you have done just a couple of deals. Jay explains that if you don't pay the private lender, the property does. When borrowing private money, you are not borrowing unsecured money. You give the lender the collateralized note. That gives them the legal right to foreclose on you if you don't pay them. Sometimes as investors, we fear screwing our private lenders when the deals go sour. Still, Jay stresses that that will not happen if we buy right, know what our formula is for your maximum offers when we are playing on cash, estimate repairs correctly when renovations are involved, and protect ourselves and our private lender by not borrowing too much money for a property. Don't overleverage a property, and don't borrow more than 75% of the after-repair value. We then talk about how to find people who have money who might want to lend it to you. Jay shares that there are three primary categories of private lenders and where you can find them. The first category is a warm market; family, friends, and connections in your phone, email list, and social connections. The second category is your expanded warm market. Whether you are well connected or not, you have to grow your network intentionally by getting involved with your community by giving, not getting first. Get involved in the local city groups, chamber of commerce, lottery club, and church to grow your local network. Networking is a big part of attracting private money. The better quality and bigger your network is, the better. Your network is the foundation of your net worth. The third category is existing private lenders. These are people that are already lending money out individually to real estate investors. Lastly, we talk about five steps to use when teaching a warm market what private money is. Jay shares that the first step is making your list. The first people to put on your list are people who are retired because there is a good chance they have a retirement fund that is not giving them high-rate returns safely and securely. The second step is to have a very casual, simple, no-pressure, no-selling, and no-chasing conversation over the phone or in person. Step three is arousing their curiosity by teaching them what private money is. Step four is teaching them your private money program, where you set the parameters, interest rate, maximum value, length of the note, and frequency of the payment. Step five is where they give you a verbal pledge, and then you find a deal. Jay advises to not present a deal that you need to be funded by a private lender in the same initial conversation when teaching the private lender program. You definitely want to avoid sounding desperate! Make sure you don't miss another amazing episode of the Just Start Real Estate Podcast with Jay Conner and get valuable information on how to raise all the private money you'll ever need! Notable Quotes: “When you are able to educate other people about private money, there is no chasing, there is no begging, there is no selling. Instead, the lenders will be chasing you.” Jay Conner “Don't overleverage properties. Protect yourself and your private lenders by not borrowing too much money for a property. Don't borrow more than 75% of the ARV.“ Jay Conner “Networking is a big part of attracting private money. The better quality and bigger your network is the better. Your network is the foundation of your net worth.” Jay Conner “Private money is where you want to end up because of the volatility of the hard money world and how the rules are changing.” Mike Simmons “Leveraging private money is easy - you just need to follow the right steps, don't overthink and over talk, when someone says yes, your job is done.” Mike Simmons Thank You for Listening! Connect with Mike on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Linkedin, Facebook Help Out the Show: Leave an honest review on iTunes. Your ratings and reviews really help, and I read each one. Subscribe on iTunes. Resources and Links From Today's Show: Money Guide Omni on LinkedIn Omni on Facebook Omni on Instagram More Resources From Mike: Level Jumping: How I Grew My Business to Over $1 Million in Profits in 12 Months WINNING DIRECT MAIL - How to CRUSH IT with direct mail! 7 Figure Investor Video Course - Scale your business to 7 figures. I'll show you how!

Highlights From The Show: Welcome to this version of the Just Start Real Estate Podcast! I am excited to bring you another replay of my Live Question and Answer sessions. For those people that are unable to join us live, this will provide an opportunity to hear the awesome questions I am fielding about business, taking risks, real estate, and so much more! This presentation is the live Q&A that I did the week of November 2nd and each Thursday we will offer you another chance to take advantage of listening to the answers to our guests' fabulous and compelling questions! Don't miss this new episode of the Just Start Real Estate Podcast! Notable Quotes: “The deals are out there.” “There is nothing like getting something for free that normally costs money.” “Your business is dying, and will be dead soon, if you don't get more leads.” “Direct mail is one of the very best lead sources you will ever find.” “If you have a long-term rental that someone occupies for a year or two, you can almost guarantee that the carpeting is going to be a disaster at that point.” “You can fortify the materials in your rentals against getting destroyed or you or your property manager can do regular inspections.” “If you want to reduce your turnover costs, inspect the property on a regular basis.” “That is absolutely happening a ton all over the place.” “The BRRRR strategy is not dead.” “This is the time that it becomes easier to buy a house at 50% of ARV.” “Some people want a unique, Instagrammable property for short-term rentals.” Thank You for Listening! Connect with Mike on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Linkedin, Facebook Help Out the Show: Leave an honest review on iTunes. Your ratings and reviews really help and I read each one. Subscribe on iTunes. More Resources From Mike: Level Jumping: How I Grew My Business to Over $1 Million in Profits in 12 Months WINNING DIRECT MAIL - How to CRUSH IT with direct mail! 7 Figure Investor Video Course - Scale your business to 7 figures. I'll show you how!

Today's Guest: Karen Briscoe Karen is the principal owner of the Huckaby Briscoe Conroy Group (HBC) with Keller Williams. The HBC Group has been recognized by the Wall Street Journal as one of the 250 Top Realtor® teams in the United States. Since 1977, HBC Group has sold over 1,500 homes valued at over $1.5 billion. The team consistently sells over 100 residential properties annually ranging from multi-million dollar luxury estates to condominiums and townhomes. Primary market areas include Northern Virginia, suburban Maryland, and Washington, DC. Highlights From The Show: Karen is the creator of the transformative "5 Minute Success" concept. Her books Real Estate Success in 5 Minutes a Day: Secrets of a Top Agent Revealed and Commit to Get Leads: 66 Day Challenge offer a combination of information and inspiration delivered through memorable stories. Her most recent book, Flip Time / Love Life is a heroine's journey tale about loving the life you have while you create and co-create the life of your dreams. Karen also hosts the highly-rated and immensely popular show 5 Minute Success - The Podcast. Karen starts by telling us how she got into real estate and what led her to author books and become a podcaster. She initially got started in property developments, but then switched to the residential side of real estate after staying home with her children for many years. Her success in re-building her business after the housing market crisis in 2008 led her to share her methods through her books and podcast. I asked Karen what she thought helped her to be so successful so early and she said it was her primary strategy of lead generation that she covers in her Commit to Get Leads book. She said she consistently took a plain notebook, numbered a page from one to twenty-five, and when she had filled that up with people she had reached out to that week, she knew her work was done. She is a firm believer that this consistent effort and commitment is what has led to her continued success. Karen then walks us through the 5 Minute Success principles. She is convinced success is achieved by getting into action immediately and applying lessons learned. Karen talks about how spending five minutes each day, especially attaching the reading of these principles coupled with an existing habit, like having your morning coffee, is very effective and makes the new habit effortless. I then asked Karen to explain her 66 Day Challenge so we could dive a little deeper into lead generation because it is so vital to a profitable business. She pointed out that there has been a lot of research done on how long it actually takes to form a new habit. Many people say it takes 21 days, but during that period the person is really excited and, when that wears off, the habit can fail to fully form. If they continue, in the second 21 days, the person goes through a period of evaluation, determining whether they really want to continue developing this new habit. The remaining days in the 66-day period are when people actually start to experience the benefits, so it is important to power through and create the energy for persistence. And then, of course, this is just the challenge to get you jump-started for forming a life-long habit. Because Karen has had so much success for a long period of time in real estate, I asked her where she thought the market would be headed because of the impact of COVID-19. She said she thought the concept of home has actually changed because of the shelter-in-place directives, and people are going to be more mindful of their living space because of it. Karen described how where they were seeing a trend toward urbanization, it now seems to be shifting toward suburbanization, because people want more space and land. She said many agents around the country are seeing demand, but many sellers are unsure about the ongoing situation and not pulling the trigger. Karen then talked about her partnership with the Front Row Foundation which helps individuals and families braving critical health challenges live life in the Front Row. The hope of the foundation is to provide a Front Row experience that will allow the recipient to set aside any physical or emotional challenges while they attend the event of their dreams and create memories that last a lifetime. Karen is an ultra-successful business person, but much more importantly, an incredibly generous and kind one as well, so you will definitely miss out if you don't listen to this week's episode! Notable Quotes: “The best system is the one you use.” Mike Simmons “Don't overthink it - it is the consistency and the work that matters.” Mike Simmons “Preparing to do the work is an excuse for not actually doing the work.” Mike Simmons “I call it activity blocking rather than time blocking.” Karen Briscoe “The delivery system of these principles for 5 minutes a day is very powerful.” Karen Briscoe “Time is a created thing. To say ‘I don't have time' is like saying ‘I don't want to.'” Lao Tzu “If somebody doesn't want to invest 5 minutes a day into their personal or business development, then they don't really want to be successful.” Karen Briscoe “Leads are oxygen to your business.” Mike Simmons “If you are living life on the front row, you can have a front-row moment wherever you are.” Karen Briscoe Thank You for Listening! Connect with Mike on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Linkedin, Facebook Help Out the Show: Leave an honest review on iTunes. Your ratings and reviews really help, and I read each one. Subscribe on iTunes. Resources and Links From Today's Show: Real Estate Success in 5 Minutes a Day: Secrets of a Top Agent Revealed Commit to Get Leads: 66 Day Challenge Flip Time / Love Life 5 Minute Success Website 5 Minute Success - The Podcast More Resources From Mike: Level Jumping: How I Grew My Business to Over $1 Million in Profits in 12 Months WINNING DIRECT MAIL - How to CRUSH IT with direct mail! 7 Figure Investor Video Course - Scale your business to 7 figures. I'll show you how!

Highlights From The Show: Welcome to this version of the Just Start Real Estate Podcast! I am excited to bring you another replay of my Live Question and Answer sessions. For those people that are unable to join us live, this will provide an opportunity to hear the awesome questions I am fielding about business, taking risks, real estate, and so much more! This presentation is the live Q&A that I did the week of October 26th and each Thursday we will offer you another chance to take advantage of listening to the answers to our guests' fabulous and compelling questions! Don't miss this new episode of the Just Start Real Estate Podcast! Notable Quotes: “What I really want to know is what kind of business you want.” “The big thing in real estate will always be finding deals.” “That category of real estate - wholesaling - exists to serve you.” “I don't know if wholesaling is the way to go if you don't have a lot of time, especially in the beginning.” “Doing the actual flipping process - working with contractors, working with banks, taking an ugly duckling and turning it into a swan - I didn't love it.” “I switched to wholesaling and it was much more in line with my personality and what I wanted for my business.” “We are going to have a long conversation before we get to the investing strategy and how to do it.” “Traveling a lot and buying two rentals a year - no big deal.” “No matter what investing strategy you are in, you should be developing relationships with realtors because they have access to the vast majority of properties that are for sale.” “Realtors want leads and they want sales, just like we do as investors.” Thank You for Listening! Connect with Mike on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Linkedin, Facebook Help Out the Show: Leave an honest review on iTunes. Your ratings and reviews really help and I read each one. Subscribe on iTunes. More Resources From Mike: Level Jumping: How I Grew My Business to Over $1 Million in Profits in 12 Months WINNING DIRECT MAIL - How to CRUSH IT with direct mail! 7 Figure Investor Video Course - Scale your business to 7 figures. I'll show you how!

Today's Guest: Dave Dubeau Dave is a real estate investor and the founder of The Money Partner Formula, which has helped 100's of real estate investors across North America (and even as far away as Australia, the U.K., and Korea) to quickly launch their capital-raising processes. His proprietary process lets you focus on taking care of your portfolio, finding great new deals, and meeting prospective investors while he works behind the scenes with his team as your capital-raising marketing department. Dave has shared the stage with people like Robert Kiyosaki, George Foreman, Robert Herjavek, Arlene Dickinson, Ted Thomas, and many more. He has been interviewed on over 50 different podcasts, including: "The Best Ever Real Estate Show" with Joe Fairless, and many others. Dave has also spoken for numerous Real Estate Investment Clubs, organizations, and groups. Highlights From The Show: We begin the episode with Dave sharing his background story and how he ended up in real estate. Dave shares that he is a Canadian but lived in Costa Rica for a decade, and that's where he started real estate investing with a couple of pre-foreclosure deals. However, Dave moved his family to Canada and sold his businesses in Costa Rica. He didn't have a lot of capital, had zero credit because he had been out of the country for so long, and had zero job opportunities because he had been self-employed for so long. Dave got into a course that assured him that he, too, could get rich with little or no money down. He did 18 deals for his first 18 months and got good at tracking motivated sellers. Dave shares that the strategy didn't require much capital, but about 8 years later, when he was doing a different strategy that required coming up with a downpayment, he realized he really sucked at raising capital. He came up with The Money Partner Formula, which worked well for him. We then discuss the common mistakes that people make when raising capital. Dave shares that the first mistake he made was following the guru saying, ‘find a good deal, and then money will find you.' According to Dave, that is only true if you have a platform with a thousand followers. If you are a regular mom-and-pop investor, this is the worst advice. For Dave, when he first crashed and burned, he had self-financed his first few deals that required a downpayment and, like everybody else, ran out of cash and credit, and that was when the perfect deal landed on his lap. He had two weeks to find an investor. Dave was under a time crunch, desperate, and out of that, he repelled people with his capital-raising strategy. From his experience, Dave recommends that you get your money lined up first and then look for deals or, at the very least, do them at the same time. Don't wait until you get a deal on the go to scramble trying to raise capital. Dave shares that the second big mistake he sees people making all the time is when they are desperate, they figure that anybody with a checkbook could make a good potential investor. The big problem with going after strangers as investors is that it will be very challenging. If you are trying to get somebody to invest 50, 70, or 100 thousand with you, that person needs to know you, like you, and trust you with their money. Also, it is illegal for mom-and-pop investors to raise capital from the general public unless we're licensed or set up with expensive entities or exemptions. Thinking of strangers as potential investors is a big mistake. Instead, focus on people that you already have a pre-existing relationship with. Dave shares that the third big mistake most people make is rushing in like the proverbial bull in a china shop. He shares that when he was trying to raise capital, he had an amazing deal with a two weeks time frame to close on it. Dave tried cold calling, but it didn't work for him. Networking also didn't work for him because he was trying to raise money from strangers. The other thing that Dave did was to put together a list of 200 people and a one-page pdf overview of the deal. He thought the deal would sell itself if enough people saw it because it was awesome. Dave sent the pdf to all the 200 people on his list, and the response he got from people he had not talked to for even 18 years was not cool. The deal crashed and burned, but he had to figure out a better way to raise capital for his future deals. He knew there was a better way, and he was right. Lastly, we talk about the right way to raise money for your deals and get people to pay attention to your deals and write checks. Dave shares that you have to be a little bit more strategic about things. You don't want to wait until you desperately need the capital to start the whole process. Start by coming up with a large list of potential investors you have a connection with, and instead of charging in and trying to get money out of them, be a little classier about it. Reconnect with them on a personal level first before you start talking about business. This is a warm-up campaign, and it's very simple. Start by sending out three emails over a week-long period, such as on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. The goal of the warm-up campaign is to reconnect, catch up with people, get some back and forth, and set the stage to prime the pump for what will be coming down the pipeline with your regular marketing. Make sure you don't miss another amazing episode of the Just Start Real Estate Podcast with Dave Dubeau and get valuable information on the three things that are keeping you from raising private money! Notable Quotes: “Get your money lined up first, and then look for deals. Don't wait until you get a deal and have to scramble to raise capital.” Dave Dubeau “Crashing and burning is a great way to learn but hearing about people's mistakes allows you not to crash and burn and also shortens your learning curve.” Mike Simmons “Thinking of strangers as potential investors is a big mistake. Instead, leverage your network, get the low-hanging fruit, and squeeze all the juice out of the contacts you already have.” Dave Dubeau Thank You for Listening! Connect with Mike on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Linkedin, Facebook Help Out the Show: Leave an honest review on iTunes. Your ratings and reviews really help, and I read each one. Subscribe on iTunes. Resources and Links From Today's Show: Money Partner Formula. Dave on LinkedIn Dave YouTube More Resources From Mike: Level Jumping: How I Grew My Business to Over $1 Million in Profits in 12 Months WINNING DIRECT MAIL - How to CRUSH IT with direct mail! 7 Figure Investor Video Course - Scale your business to 7 figures. I'll show you how!

Highlights From The Show: Welcome to this version of the Just Start Real Estate Podcast! I am excited to bring you another replay of my Live Question and Answer sessions. For those people that are unable to join us live, this will provide an opportunity to hear the awesome questions I am fielding about business, taking risks, real estate, and so much more! This presentation is the live Q&A that I did the week of October 19th and each Thursday we will offer you another chance to take advantage of listening to the answers to our guests' fabulous and compelling questions! Don't miss this new episode of the Just Start Real Estate Podcast! Notable Quotes: “Let's build your company, scale it, and automate it in any market.” “Everyone is freaking out and wondering if they can do real estate in a recession, with the interest rates rising and property values going down.” “This market that we are going into is as good as the one we just left, just in different ways.” “I prefer the market that we are going into and I think it works to our favor as investors.” “Get back to blocking and tackling, get back to the fundamentals.” “Its acquisitions… it is almost always acquisitions that is the hardest seat to fill.” “There is an opportunity cost with acquisitions.” “Your ARV has to reflect a declining market.” “I like acquisition people who have a strong work ethic and are competitive.” “How often does anyone really go through and clean their house really well? Probably when you have a party.” “I would not give anyone a discount in the peak season of your short-term rental.” Thank You for Listening! Connect with Mike on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Linkedin, Facebook Help Out the Show: Leave an honest review on iTunes. Your ratings and reviews really help and I read each one. Subscribe on iTunes. More Resources From Mike: Level Jumping: How I Grew My Business to Over $1 Million in Profits in 12 Months WINNING DIRECT MAIL - How to CRUSH IT with direct mail! 7 Figure Investor Video Course - Scale your business to 7 figures. I'll show you how!

Today's Guest: Avery Carl Avery bought her first rental property at age 26 on a $37,000 salary. Through strategically investing in short-term rental properties in mature vacation rental markets, she was a millionaire by the age of 31. She now owns a portfolio of 28 properties and is the CEO and founder of The Short Term Shop, a real estate team that helps investors acquire short-term rental properties in the most recession-resistant markets, and trains them on the same methods that led her out of the corporate rat race and into financial freedom. Highlights From The Show: Avery begins by telling us about her background in which she worked as a marketing manager in the music industry. Completely uneducated in real estate investing, she and her husband decided to purchase a home for a long-term rental in the hopes of selling it to pay for college for their future kids. Quickly, they realized that they should do more investing and came across the idea of short-term rentals. They have now grown their portfolio into 28 properties, split between short and long-term rentals. Avery's business, The Short Term Shop, grew from the necessity of having to become an expert in this type of investing as so few people are and she found very little support. Avery talks about how her focus has been regional, driveable, vacation-rental markets because they are more recession-proof. Very applicable currently, as we are still dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, these types of rentals are very attractive when people are unable to or cannot afford to get on a plane, but still want to get away from home. She said that an easy way to think of areas that might be attractive to have short-term rentals are places you may have visited as a child when you rented a house rather than stayed in a hotel. Avery also said that metro markets can be undesirable because of regulations imposed stemming from the competition of nearby hotel markets. I asked Avery to talk about what I perceived as the downside of short-term rentals, primarily having to deal with people and answer questions very frequently. She said that many different software platforms have risen out of this fairly new type of investing called channel managers that automate a lot of this process. Avery also said that providing as much information as possible in your Airbnb or VRBO listing to try to answer as many questions ahead of time as possible. She also explained all of the technology they have in place for monitoring their rentals. I wanted Avery to explain the finances involved in the different markets that she is in. She went through the numbers she has seen in her experience and some possible expenses, such as property management, which she does herself. Avery said that more bedrooms make for a higher return on investment, so we talked about this and other details a bit. I wanted Avery to talk about some of the mistakes she had experienced herself or seen with her clients that new investors should be aware of. Evaluating properties to buy is different in that you want to look at asking price versus what you can make in rentals, instead of what you would make when you sell it. As far as management, she said you have to be aware that because the renters are on vacation, they may not be on their best behavior, but that doesn't mean they are trashing your place and you have to be careful about calling them out on it. Avery also talked about some of the software tools available to short-term rental investors for management. I then asked Avery to explain to our listeners the service that The Short Term Shop provides. She said that she is a realtor and has teams in three different markets in Tennessee, Florida, and Alabama. They help investors make sure that the properties they are evaluating would make profitable short-term rentals and walk them through the whole process to run a vacation rental. Even though Avery owns and runs a business to help people get started in this kind of investing, she was completely transparent and gave us all the tips and tools she uses for her own properties! Don't miss this fast-paced interview, chock-full of great information with Avery Carl! Notable Quotes: “Short-term rentals provide turbo-charged income.” Avery Carl “You definitely want to treat your cleaners like gold because they are your eyes and ears.” Avery Carl “Don't micromanage.” Avery Carl “The more people you can sleep, the more money you can make, and the higher the cash-on-cash return.” Avery Carl “It's better than sitting in an office every day.” Avery Carl “Normal real estate investors are looking for super deals all of the time.” Mike Simmons Thank You for Listening! Connect with Mike on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Linkedin, Facebook Help Out the Show: Leave an honest review on iTunes. Your ratings and reviews really help, and I read each one. Subscribe on iTunes. Resources and Links From Today's Show: The Short Term Shop AirDNA Mashvisor KeyData YourPorter IGMS TurnoverBnB Beyond Pricing PriceLabs Wheelhouse Airbnb VRBO More Resources From Mike: Level Jumping: How I Grew My Business to Over $1 Million in Profits in 12 Months WINNING DIRECT MAIL - How to CRUSH IT with direct mail! 7 Figure Investor Video Course - Scale your business to 7 figures. I'll show you how!

Highlights From The Show: Welcome to this version of the Just Start Real Estate Podcast! I am excited to bring you another replay of my Live Question and Answer sessions. For those people that are unable to join us live, this will provide an opportunity to hear the awesome questions I am fielding about business, taking risks, real estate, and so much more! This presentation is the live Q&A that I did the week of October 12th and each Thursday we will offer you another chance to take advantage of listening to the answers to our guests' fabulous and compelling questions! Don't miss this new episode of the Just Start Real Estate Podcast! Notable Quotes: “1000% YES. Buyers are still buying from us.” “It is a big fallacy that people are pulling back and holding off because we are in a changing market.” “Our job as investors right now is to point the sellers to the facts.” “Our buyers are asking for reduced pricing.” “The job of the house flipper is to dial in their process and not let a renovation take 6 or 9 months.” “I know a lot of people that have been trying to figure out wholesaling for months or years and they still don't 100% get it.” “If you try to explain the entire wholesaling process to a seller in a 30-minute conversion, you are not going to get a lot of deals.” “When you give people too many options or too much information, usually the result is they do nothing. And by doing nothing, they are essentially saying no.” “We set the expectations right up front.” “When selecting a property manager, I want to know they have a pretty good-sized portfolio of properties that they manage. I don't want to be their first.” Thank You for Listening! Connect with Mike on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Linkedin, Facebook Help Out the Show: Leave an honest review on iTunes. Your ratings and reviews really help and I read each one. Subscribe on iTunes. More Resources From Mike: Level Jumping: How I Grew My Business to Over $1 Million in Profits in 12 Months WINNING DIRECT MAIL - How to CRUSH IT with direct mail! 7 Figure Investor Video Course - Scale your business to 7 figures. I'll show you how!

Today's Guest: Stefan Tsvetkov Stefan is a financial engineer turned multifamily investor, analytics speaker, live webinar host, and the founder of RealtyQuant - a company that brings data-driven and quantitative techniques to the real estate industry. They utilize a data-driven approach to seek inefficiencies in the U.S. multifamily market. RealtyQuant Analytics uses a collection of state-level and county-level reports and data to assist investors in best gauging overvalued real estate markets and their appreciation potential. They have also developed statistical predictors for market appreciation and a valuation metric to gauge market downside risk. With RealtyQuant, Stefan is on a mission to add industry value through education, investment, technology, and analytics. Highlights From The Show: We begin the episode with Stefan sharing his background story and how he ended up in real estate. Stefan shares that he's from Europe. He came to the States at 22 years old to pursue his master's in financial engineering in New York City and worked in finance for about a decade. Stefan shares that for the last couple of years, he has been investing in commercial real estate in the Midwest. Stefan is also the founder of RealtyQuant, a data analytic industry in real estate, where he does different property and market analytics. He has done studies on prior market recessions and published market evaluation metrics for every single county in the country. We then discuss what is happening and Stefan's outlook on what will come in the next 18-24 months. He shares that the most distinctive thing he has seen that shows we're not yet in a recession is that inflation is high, and it goes heavily down in recessions. The second distinctive factor he shares is that the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) metrics that show whether we are in a recession or not are very subjective to factors such as personal expenditure. According to Stefan, what he is interested in as a marketer and investor is the market he's investing in and understanding if he will be able to carry down the risk if it hits a recession at some point. They do studies in these areas, and they have appreciation predictors which account for population growth, income growth, and so forth to show the kind of appreciation to expect in different markets. According to Stefan, understanding market relations is key. It's not about having a doomsday perspective if you have negative exposure in a recession but more about what will be your relative performance. Next, we talk about how the politics of a state can affect the over and undervaluation of properties in real estate. Stefan shares that politics have an effect on the population, demographics, and migration shifts. Stefan also explains that being protected in a recession is not about investing in strong markets which decline at a higher rate. For instance, during the previous recession, very desired markets like California, Arizona, and Florida declined, while undesired markets like West Virginia and Mississippi had no decline in the real estate crisis. Stefan shares that strong markets are generally riskier when it comes to property depreciation during recessions because they tend to become overheated. Lastly, we talk about how states and regions are overvalued, and those that should look out for that are undervalued right now. Stefan shares that the undervalued regions tend to decline very little. Normally the drop is 10 to 12%, but in the undervalued states, the average decline was only 4%. For instance, if you had a property in North Dakota, it had 0% depreciation because it was very undervalued at the time. According to him, with evaluation, you can invest at any time in a very educated way, and the best top ten states, which are also the best markets, are the western and southern states. In terms of undervalued, he recommends you look for poorly performing states like Illinois, North Dakota, Louisiana, and Connecticut. Make sure you don't miss another amazing episode of the Just Start Real Estate Podcast with Stefan Tsvetkov and get valuable information on the most undervalued markets you should be investing in now! Notable Quotes: “We're not yet in a recession, inflation is high, and it goes down heavily in recessions.” Stefan Tsvetkov “Strong markets are generally riskier when it comes to property depreciation during recessions because they tend to become overheated.” Stefan Tsvetkov “Having comprehensive data is important when things are moving; you need to know what is happening and look ahead, but you can't just look a year behind you to know what will happen a year ahead of you.” Mike Simmons “If you stay under the same market cycle, you will continue to appreciate.“ Stefan Tsvetkov Thank You for Listening! Connect with Mike on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Linkedin, Facebook Help Out the Show: Leave an honest review on iTunes. Your ratings and reviews really help, and I read each one. Subscribe on iTunes. Resources and Links From Today's Show: RealtyQuant Finance Meet Real Estate Stefan on LinkedIn Stefan on Facebook More Resources From Mike: Level Jumping: How I Grew My Business to Over $1 Million in Profits in 12 Months WINNING DIRECT MAIL - How to CRUSH IT with direct mail! 7 Figure Investor Video Course - Scale your business to 7 figures. I'll show you how!

Highlights From The Show: Welcome to this version of the Just Start Real Estate Podcast! I am excited to bring you another replay of my Live Question and Answer sessions. For those people that are unable to join us live, this will provide an opportunity to hear the awesome questions I am fielding about business, taking risks, real estate, and so much more! This presentation is the live Q&A that I did the week of October 10th and each Thursday we will offer you another chance to take advantage of listening to the answers to our guests' fabulous and compelling questions! Don't miss this new episode of the Just Start Real Estate Podcast! Notable Quotes: “1000% YES. Buyers are still buying from us.” “It is a big fallacy that people are pulling back and holding off because we are in a changing market.” “Our job as investors right now is to point the sellers to the facts.” “Our buyers are asking for reduced pricing.” “The job of the house flipper is to dial in their process and not let a renovation take 6 or 9 months.” “I know a lot of people that have been trying to figure out wholesaling for months or years and they still don't 100% get it.” “If you try to explain the entire wholesaling process to a seller in a 30-minute conversion, you are not going to get a lot of deals.” “When you give people too many options or too much information, usually the result is they do nothing. And by doing nothing, they are essentially saying no.” “We set the expectations right up front.” “When selecting a property manager, I want to know they have a pretty good-sized portfolio of properties that they manage. I don't want to be their first.” Thank You for Listening! Connect with Mike on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Linkedin, Facebook Help Out the Show: Leave an honest review on iTunes. Your ratings and reviews really help and I read each one. Subscribe on iTunes. More Resources From Mike: Level Jumping: How I Grew My Business to Over $1 Million in Profits in 12 Months WINNING DIRECT MAIL - How to CRUSH IT with direct mail! 7 Figure Investor Video Course - Scale your business to 7 figures. I'll show you how!

Today's Guest: Mark Podolsky Mark, who, armed with only $3,000, gut-wrenching fear, and absolutely no real estate experience, bought his first few parcels of raw land in 2001. Today, Mark is the author of Dirt Rich, the ultimate guide to helping you build a passive income, and owner of Frontier Properties, a very reputable and successful land investing company. He is also the host of two popular podcasts, The Art of Passive Income and The Best Passive Income Model. By focusing on working smart, not hard, he has completed over 5,500 land deals with an average ROI of over 300% on cash flips, and over 1,000% on the deals he sells with financing terms. Highlights From The Show: Mark begins by giving us a little detail on how he got into land investing. He was working as an investment banker in mergers and acquisitions and had a co-worker achieving incredibly high ROI by investing in raw land. Mark couldn't believe the numbers, so he tried it himself. After about 18 months, he was able to exceed his corporate job income and was able to quit in order to invest full-time. I asked Mark to walk us through his investing model. He starts by going to the county treasurer in a particular area and gets the list of everyone who owes back taxes on land. He said that this advertises two things to him: the owner is not emotionally attached to the land and he is financially distressed in some way. Mark then looks at comparable sales, takes the lowest comparable sale, divides by 4, and offers that fraction to the owner of the land. Because this is cash, and better than nothing, 3-5% of the people will accept it. Once bought, Mark wants to make the property cash-flow, just like if he had a rental home, and he usually has guaranteed buyers in the neighbors. If they have no interest in the property, he has an extensive list of buyers and sites to sell it. Mark talked a lot about selling to his buyer's list, so I asked him how you build a list for land. He commented that he has a huge raw land market and explained some of his marketing strategies. He also employs a 90-day return or exchange and 365-day exchange program so it removes the risk for his customers. He then explained how he has automated both the front-end and back-end systems. He says he only has one hour in this business a week when he conducts his team meeting. I asked Mark to lay out what his team looks like. He has an Acquisitions Manager who decides on a market after extensive research, gets the delinquent tax list from the county, and then works with a guy on Fiverr, who Mark says is an “excel ninja.” He scrubs the list and uploads it to The Land Geek's proprietary software LGPASS, which sends out direct mail offers. Then the Intake Manager takes over as the offers come back, to ensure they are actual deals, and to try to negotiate a lower selling price, in addition to the actual closing. The property due diligence is performed by a group in the Philippines associated with an American title company, and then they have ad writers for major selling outlets like Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace. Mark also employs Virtual Assistants (VAs) to work with the Acquisition Manager handling administrative duties. This episode is about so much more than land investing! Mark walks us through his entire process, which is such valuable information for any investor! Join us for this powerful episode of the Just Start Real Estate Podcast! Notable Quotes: “Now we are working because we want to, not because we have to.” Mark Podolsky “No renters, no rehabs, no renovations, no rodents.” Mark Podolsky “The game that we play is can we create enough of these land notes so that our passive income exceeds our fixed expenses.” Mark Podolsky “Happy customers guaranteed.” Mark Podolsky's business philosophy “What used to take me hours and hours, now takes me one second because of automation.” Mark Podolsky “You just have to show up - it is a consistency game.” Mark Podolsky “COVID is definitely changing the way we do business. We might not have the same success rate closing deals over the phone, but it is dwarfed by the volume of deals when you are doing it virtually.” Mike Simmons “We are learning how to do things faster and better.” Mike Simmons “Owning land is kind of like man-jewelry.” Mark Podolsky Thank You for Listening! Connect with Mike on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Linkedin, Facebook Help Out the Show: Leave an honest review on iTunes. Your ratings and reviews really help, and I read each one. Subscribe on iTunes. Resources and Links From Today's Show: Mark's Website Tax Title Services GeekPay LGPASS DataTree ListSource Dirt Rich More Resources From Mike: Level Jumping: How I Grew My Business to Over $1 Million in Profits in 12 Months WINNING DIRECT MAIL - How to CRUSH IT with direct mail! 7 Figure Investor Video Course - Scale your business to 7 figures. I'll show you how!

Highlights From The Show: Welcome to this version of the Just Start Real Estate Podcast! I am excited to bring you another replay of my Live Question and Answer sessions. For those people that are unable to join us live, this will provide an opportunity to hear the awesome questions I am fielding about business, taking risks, real estate, and so much more! This presentation is the live Q&A that I did the week of September 28th and each Thursday we will offer you another chance to take advantage of listening to the answers to our guests' fabulous and compelling questions! Don't miss this new episode of the Just Start Real Estate Podcast! Notable Quotes: “I'm using ‘data-nerd' as a term of endearment.” “It is vital for you to know what type of market you are in, not necessarily all of the details and numbers.” “High-level metrics and high-level data you should know.” “You have to know what to say to the sellers when you are in their home and knowing the market is key.” “You should have a one or two-week due diligence period if you can negotiate it in.” “I don't like doing flips after fires because smoke damage is real, man. It gets into everything.” “It is homeowners insurance for sure, but you need to get a vacant policy” Thank You for Listening! Connect with Mike on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Linkedin, Facebook Help Out the Show: Leave an honest review on iTunes. Your ratings and reviews really help and I read each one. Subscribe on iTunes. More Resources From Mike: Get Your Tickets to Flip Hacking Live Today! Level Jumping: How I Grew My Business to Over $1 Million in Profits in 12 Months WINNING DIRECT MAIL - How to CRUSH IT with direct mail! 7 Figure Investor Video Course - Scale your business to 7 figures. I'll show you how!

Today's Guest: Jake Clopton Jake is the Founder and CEO at Clopton Capital, a serial entrepreneur, author, and economist. He founded Clopton Capital in 2009 as a way for property owners and operators to efficiently access both debt and JV equity for commercial property deals. The company focuses on small to middle-market space and all asset classes. Since its inception, Jake has arranged billions of dollars in financing for borrowers across the country. Jake is also the owner and operator of several apartment communities serving residents across the Chicagoland area. He also manages Clopton Insurance Services, a national insurance agency focusing solely on commercial property and business insurance. Highlights From The Show: We begin the episode with Jake sharing his background story and how he ended up in real estate. Jake shares that before he got into real estate, he traded product features in Chicago. However, with the financial crisis in 2008, the interest rates went to zero, all the markets dried up, and it was hard to make money. Jake's idea in the crisis was to help people find capital for deals, even though he didn't have a background in banking. He started making calls to banks, lenders, and anybody he could find to help him put the money out there. That was 15 years ago, and now he has a capital-raising company that has evolved over time, and Jake fell into the real estate side of it. We then talk about how Jake's company helps people raise money for deals. He shares that his company is a liquidity provider in real estate. They do straightforward mortgages for commercial properties, bridge loans, and creative capital. He shares that their typical clients are small market real estate operators, but they also get involved with institutions to help them raise JV equity. However, according to Jake, you will need more as you scale the different types of deals and assets, and how you raise money will change. He also shares that when you start getting bigger, your ability to look for more deals will be taken away as you service the properties you already have in your portfolio, especially when you have multiple investors. Next, we talk about the interest rates, where they are going, and what you can expect. Jake shares that the market is a little different now, and a lot of what is going on is just uncertainty in the system. Uncertain risk makes people pull back and question their decisions. According to Jake, the volatility and the higher risk are based on the credit spread, and we're not in a recession as many people presume. Banks are very solid, and there is an enormous amount of liquidity out there. He shares that you should not listen so much to what people are saying about the market crashing because they have been jolted so much into that, and it's creating a lot of uncertainty. Jake's perspective is that when you finally get clarity on how far the Fed is going to move the interest rates and understand where it's going to stop, it will solidify your certainty and stability in the market. We then talk about what is coming up in the market and how Jake is bracing his company. Jake shares that they provide capital, and in times like this, when things are a little bit trickier, they do a lot better. According to him, asset prices didn't go down when the entire economy shut down during the pandemic. There are more debts, but there is a lot more liquidity, and we are starting from a much better place. Jake also touches on the residential market, and he shares that what happened is that it got ahead of itself and became hypercompetitive. There was a surge of demand from investors for residential housing, and 20% of all homes sold were sold to investors. This was an abnormal amount of this year's demand. Jake argues that it was not necessarily that the market was losing value but had a demand problem. Lastly, we discuss the commercial real estate market and why you might want to look into it. Jake shares that the reason people go from residential to commercial is all about scale and doing bigger deals. According to him, moving from different classes of residential properties, single-family, duplexes to multi-family and then transitioning to commercial real estate space can happen very fast, but not everybody does it. In his books, Jake helps people understand that the residential and commercial markets are very different in terms of finances, equity, and capital raising in order to make a great transition. Make sure you don't miss another amazing episode of the Just Start Real Estate Podcast with Jake Clopton and get valuable information on the state of the market and where interest rates will go in the coming months! Notable Quotes: “Every deal is different, and raising money for every deal is different.” Jake Clopton “Sometimes we tend to wait so long to peel off some responsibilities in our business that by the time we're hiring, we should have done it a long time ago.” Mike Simmons “Residential and commercial markets are very different in terms of financing, equity and capital raising.“ Jake Clopton Thank You for Listening! Connect with Mike on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Linkedin, Facebook Help Out the Show: Leave an honest review on iTunes. Your ratings and reviews really help, and I read each one. Subscribe on iTunes. Resources and Links From Today's Show: Jakes on LinkedIn Jakes on Instagram Jakes on Facebook Jakes On Twitter Jakes on YouTube More Resources From Mike: Level Jumping: How I Grew My Business to Over $1 Million in Profits in 12 Months WINNING DIRECT MAIL - How to CRUSH IT with direct mail! 7-Figure Investor Video Course - Scale your business to 7 figures. I'll show you how!

Highlights From The Show: Welcome to this version of the Just Start Real Estate Podcast! I am excited to bring you another replay of my Live Question and Answer sessions. For those people that are unable to join us live, this will provide an opportunity to hear the awesome questions I am fielding about business, taking risks, real estate, and so much more! This presentation is the live Q&A that I did the week of September 21st and each Thursday we will offer you another chance to take advantage of listening to the answers to our guests' fabulous and compelling questions! Don't miss this new episode of the Just Start Real Estate Podcast! Notable Quotes: “Good news for you - I wasted my money and not yours.” “I would go to the lending institution first because they are going to have some hoops you need to jump through and you might as well know that upfront.” “Multifamily properties have a much longer due diligence period than single-family homes.” “If you are a serious multifamily investor for the long term, eventually you will be trying to raise money.” “It is unlikely that your tenants were awesome for the last owner and terrible for you.” “It doesn't sell a house quickly if you tell a potential buyer that the tenant doesn't pay and is a total pain in the butt.” “My suggestion is to give them a seven-day eviction notice and tell them that if they are not current with their rent by that seventh day, you will proceed with eviction proceedings and will not stop. Even if they become current on day eight.” “It sounds harsh, but you must follow through with your proposed consequences. You tell them what you are going to do and then you do it.” “Insert crazy, random - probably - lie.” “Sounds to me like you may have done poor due diligence.” Thank You for Listening! Connect with Mike on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Linkedin, Facebook Help Out the Show: Leave an honest review on iTunes. Your ratings and reviews really help and I read each one. Subscribe on iTunes. More Resources From Mike: Get Your Tickets to Flip Hacking Live Today! Level Jumping: How I Grew My Business to Over $1 Million in Profits in 12 Months WINNING DIRECT MAIL - How to CRUSH IT with direct mail! 7 Figure Investor Video Course - Scale your business to 7 figures. I'll show you how!

Today's Guest: Michael J. Maher Michael is CEO of REFERCO, the world's foremost authority in business referrals. In just his third year in real estate, he did 187 transactions and over $40 million, entirely from referrals. For the next 8 years, he received over 500 referrals every single year and netted over $1 million. Michael is an internationally bestselling author and his book (7L) The Seven Levels of Communication: Go from Relationships to Referrals has been the #1 book in Real Estate Sales on Amazon for over 9 straight years. In addition to these impressive accomplishments, he has shared the stage with George W. Bush, Tony Robbins, Barbara Corcoran, and John Maxwell. Highlights From The Show: As we often do on the show, we started by talking about Michael's background. He began his working career as a high school math teacher and coach of three sports: football, basketball, and baseball. He spoke about how dedicated he was and earned District Teacher of the Year in his first year teaching. Michael had an interest in real estate so he got licensed as an agent at the same time he bought his first home. He talks about how he built his business almost entirely through word of mouth and referrals. Because Michael became an agent in 1999, I asked him how he weathered the housing market crash years. He said that because they were getting almost all their business through referrals, they ended up having record years during that period. This is when Michael first knew he was going to have to write a book because he had discovered a system of doing business that worked well in good markets, but even better in depressed times. He spoke about how the 7L system is basically tailor-made for a challenging time like we are facing during the COVID-19 pandemic. We talked about specific marketing and deal-generating strategies based on his 7L principles, going into detail about making your marketing as personal as possible. I then asked Michael about his book, (7L) The Seven Levels of Communication: Go from Relationships to Referrals. He walked us through the levels and their amount of influence in relationships with people. The second-most powerful level involves events and seminars, and Michael explained some of the programs that they offer. That led to a conversation on the necessity of some structure to your day to increase productivity. He used the example of going to school and having an intense focus on a particular subject for a predetermined amount of time every day. Michael also walked us through the morning and evening rituals, which he imparts in his book and classes through acronyms. Michael then told us about how he helps business owners build their businesses on a foundation of love, generosity, and appreciation. He went into great detail about the personal and professional benefits of choosing to live and conduct yourself this way. Michael described love as our superpower, and generosity is that love in action. He also explained that it is vital for us to appreciate everything that happens in our lives, good or bad. I can't tell you how powerful and wisdom-packed this episode is! You would be crazy not to join me as I interview super-successful entrepreneur, Michael J. Maher! Notable Quotes: “Good market - referrals are really good. Bad market - referrals are everything.” Michael J. Maher “When people think they are going to lose their home, they want to talk to someone they trust.” Michael J. Maher “I'm big into personalized and customized service.” Michael J. Maher “What is the most important currency in today's world? It's not money - it's trust.” Michael J. Maher “Love is your superpower.” Michael J. Maher “What I'm really excited about now is helping people get structure in a world of chaos.” Michael J. Maher “Why do we charge for them? So people show up. If they have skin in the game, they come.” Michael J. Maher “There are a lot of people that would trade their wealth for health and happiness right now.” Michael J. Maher “Energy is the most precious resource known to man.” Michael J. Maher “You can change your life by changing your strategy.” Michael J. Maher “We are going to have a day - why not structure it in the most effective way you can possibly structure it?” Mike Simmons “It mixes the best of ‘go with the flow' with ‘get in the flow.'” Michael J. Maher “Your purpose in life is to be referable.” Michael J. Maher “Picking and choosing the opportunity is a lot better than chasing opportunity.” Michael J. Maher Thank You for Listening! Connect with Mike on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Linkedin, Facebook Help Out the Show: Leave an honest review on iTunes. Your ratings and reviews really help, and I read each one. Subscribe on iTunes. Resources and Links From Today's Show: (7L) The Seven Levels of Communication: Go from Relationships to Referrals Miracle Morning for Real Estate Agents Matt Walker: Sleep is your superpower | TED Talk - TED Talks Michael's Website Sweet Dreams Class 30 Mornings Class Referrals Podcast More Resources From Mike: Flip Hacking Live Tickets - Get them today! Level Jumping: How I Grew My Business to Over $1 Million in Profits in 12 Months WINNING DIRECT MAIL - How to CRUSH IT with direct mail! 7-Figure Investor Video Course - Scale your business to 7 figures. I'll show you how!