Investor Cheat Code Podcast with Mike Simmons

My guest today is Stephen Scoggins. Stephen is an award-winning, successful, multi-million-dollar serial entrepreneur, best-selling author, and creator of Transform U. He has been featured all over the country in notable outlets such as Forbes, Entrepreneur, NBC, ABC, and many more. Stephen takes his 43+ years of setbacks, failures, breakdowns, losses, successes, and comebacks, and transparently uses them to provide simple yet effective step-by-step exercises to help anyone break through their limitations.    We start this episode with Stephen sharing his background story. He shares that his background reads a lot like Forrest Gump or Joseph from the Bible, depending on the perspective you come from. Growing up in a very difficult household, he was forced to grow up very quickly. He found himself homeless at the age of 21 and a lot of that had to do with him not knowing who he was and the value that he could provide. After what he calls a faith conversion, his entire life changed and within a year and a half, he went from being homeless to developing a multimillion dollar business.   We then moved on to discussing Stephen’s journey. He talks about the epiphany that led him to ask for a second chance. With the help of his father, he started working in construction with his first mentor. He made his first tools out of the lumber that was in the trash. He says that construction taught him how to use his hands, which taught him how to use his head which later taught him how to use his heart. Today, as an extremely successful entrepreneur, he believes that the greatest purpose you'll ever have in life is serving the person you used to be. His mission today is to help others achieve a higher level of success, whatever that may be for them.   Stephen also briefly reflects on his relationship with his parents. He shares how his whole perspective changed when he started thinking about his parents as wounded children that they once were. He talks about how this realization was one of the most pivotal moments in his life.   We then dive into discussing the importance of platforms that Stephen has today. When he first noticed that he had the ability to speak out, Stephen made a promise to himself that he was going to serve one person to the best of his ability and if that leads him to a greater platform, fantastic; if it doesn't, he's still going to serve that one person to the best of his ability. He believes that too many people today chase the platforms, rather than chasing the impact. But, helping the one will eventually lead to helping the many.   Lastly, we talk about what holds people back. Stephen explains why he believes that everything that is business-related is actually personally related. According to him, people’s pain points are hidden in one of three places: (1) who am I, (2) why am I here, (3) how do I do it.  And if you want to move forward, in whatever way you think that you want to move forward, these are the things that you need to work on.    Don’t miss this incredible episode of the Just Start Real Estate Podcast, with some amazing life lessons that will help you figure out what is stopping you and allow you to go from stuck to unstoppable with the help of Stephen Scoggins!  Notable Quotes:   “I found myself homeless at the age of 21 and a lot of that had to do with me not knowing who I was, not knowing the value that I bring, not really doing any kind of talent assessment to really nail that down.” Stephen Scoggins   “My entire life is really dedicated to going back and serving the person that I used to be.” Stephen Scoggins   “I wanted to control the people, my outcomes, my results, every daily step. It’s like the tighter I tried to put a control factor on it, the more and more difficult life became for me, as a result.” Stephen Scoggins   “It was almost like I was walking around the world wearing a permanent pair of sunglasses. It didn't matter how bright the skies were or who I came in contact with, I always saw a dark tint, so to speak.” Stephen Scoggins   “You can't blame your parents, your entire life for how you are. At some point, you have to take control and break that chain.” Mike Simmons   “It pisses me off when people tell me they don't have the tools, they don't have the advantage. Like man, pull them out of the metaphorical garbage and get to work.” Mike Simmons   “People are not aware of what is around them, because they are not looking for it.” Stephen Scoggins   “When you're in business for yourself, you're gonna have an evolution of your identity.” Stephen Scoggins   “The greatest mistake that I ever made in building a business was not building myself.” Stephen Scoggins “The construction industry taught me how to use my hands. That taught me how to use my head, which later taught me how to use my heart. And now every single endeavor that I take advantage of or pursue, comes out of tha

For this episode, I welcome Ben Leybovich. Ben is an author, business owner, real estate investor, popular podcast host, and featured writer on the BiggerPockets Blog. He was professionally trained as a classical violinist but a diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis (MS) in college spelled the end of his dream of becoming a professional musician. Today, he is managing partner of WhiteHaven Capital, a private equity investment firm specializing in the acquisition and repositioning of underperforming multifamily assets in high-growth markets. In the past 7 years, he has managed to assemble a $1.5M personal real estate portfolio with 28 doors, generating over $165K of annual rent revenue with an annual cash flow of around $40K.   We start today’s episode with Ben’s background story. Around 2013, Ben grew his portfolio in Ohio and he got to a place where he realized that he could continue doing what he was doing and be somewhat successful, achieve financial independence, and a passive cash flow. But, he reached what he refers to as an inflection point. He wasn’t growing, he wasn't getting smarter or better. He realized that he needed to raise capital, he needed to attract equity, he needed to buy big deals, syndicate big deals. But he didn't want to do that in the Midwest, because he understood the Midwest very well and knew that it wasn’t a growth market. So, he decided to move to Phoenix with his family. He bought a house there and rented it out on Airbnb, but his plan was always to syndicate.   We then moved on to discussing how Ben got the knowledge he needed to tackle syndication. He shares with us that he was always blessed with people in his life who would, not necessarily give him all the answers, but shine the light on the important stuff to point him in the right direction to figure things out. This was true before he bought his first duplex and this was also true before he bought his first 100 unit community.    Ben then goes on to share his strategy for syndicating a building, how to navigate this dynamic area and all the challenges that come with it. His strategy is all about doing more, not less, and he explains how this acts as his safety trigger. If you spend less money and ten other people spend less money when there's a downturn, you are racing everybody to the bottom and you have exactly the same product that everybody else has. There's no daylight between the product you're offering to the marketplace and the product everybody else is offering to the marketplace. So, you are taking on a lot of risks, but you are also reaping a lot of rewards for it.   We discuss Ben’s strategy for finding potential syndication properties in Phoenix. These types of deals are extraordinarily hard to come by and most of it comes to Ben off-market through brokers. He also shares what are some of the things that he looks for in a deal that a broker brings to him, to determine whether or not it's something he is interested in pursuing and moving to the next step. These include location, vintage, type of mechanical setup, unit mix, and unit size.    We then move on to the topic of financing these multimillion-dollar deals. Here, Ben explains that it is all done through private placements and through private networks, without advertisement. Ben has been in the real estate business for some time, and he is a known commodity, and he got there by realizing that the best way to be known is to be helpful. This is the reason why he wrote his book, created his course, and started his podcast; he wanted to create content that is real, actionable, and helpful.    Lastly, Ben shares why he doesn’t care how the COVID pandemic will affect his business in the next 18-24 months. There are few reasons for this - first, all of his projects are capitalized; second, he is prepared to hold for a decade if he needs to; and third, if times are good, he is selling and making a bunch of money and if times are bad, he is buying at a discount and making a bunch of money. He explains that his business operates on both defense and offense and what that actually means in the real estate world.   Don’t miss this episode of the Just Start Real Estate Podcast that is filled with honest, real, and actionable content from syndicator, Ben Leybovich! Notable Quotes:   “In a man’s life, there comes a point, and if you look at successful people this happens several times, let's call them an inflection point, where you look at yourself in the mirror and you realize that the cup that was you yesterday, that's overflowing now. There's nothing more that is going in that cup, and now it's spilling over, And you may not know exactly what you are today but you do know that you're not the same thing you were yesterday.” Ben Leybovich   “For me, it was just all about education, it's all about feeling that the intellectual worth is taking the next step and the next step and the next step because the money alw

My guest today is self-storage expert, Stacy Rossetti. Stacy is a real estate investing expert, speaker, and coach, who is focusing on self-storage properties and renovations. She owns and operates the REI USA, an online education and networking platform, and StorageNerds, a self-storage investing mastermind, and group coaching mentorship. Together with her husband Pete, she currently owns and operates eight storage facilities. Stacy has overcome many trials and tribulations and today runs several successful small businesses.   We start today’s episode, as we usually do, with Stacy sharing her background story. After her college graduation, Stacy started her career working for a company that built wind turbines. She loved her job but felt burned out from all the traveling she had to do. So, after eight years she decided to quit her job. During that time, her husband started his own home inspection company and encouraged her to get into real estate investing.     We then moved on to discussing how and why Stacy got into self-storage investing. She explains how at one point after she began investing, she found herself working on fifteen rehabs at the same time. She decided that it was time to stop buying properties and she started convincing her lenders to switch to something else. That is when her realtor found a storage facility that was just twenty minutes away from her house and had been on the market for five years. She drove up, saw it, and decided that this was the perfect path to passive income.     We then dive into discussing how Stacy figured out the entire process with storage facilities. She first explains how the storage investing world is a very small niche and there are only about 15,000 units in the country. She also explains how managing storage facilities can be totally virtual, and if you learn how to run one of them, you’ll know how to run them all and you are not bound by their location. She goes on to tell us how she has delegated her acquisitions process and that employee is the one who is trying to find new storage facilities for her to buy.   Our next topic of conversation is four things to look at when you are buying a storage facility. Those four things are purchase price, annual income, vacancy rate, and annual expenses. When you have those four things you can calculate your cap rate, and your cap rate is really based on your location. The way that cap rate works is you're going to have a 5%-7% cap rate when you're inside a major city and as you go out of that primary area to your secondary market, the cap rate is 8%-9%. The further that you go out from a primary market, your cap rate gets higher. When you get into what's called tertiary markets, that's when you can have a 10+% cap rate.   We then discussed how Stacy funds her storage facilities. She shares that there are three ways to fund a storage facility deal: private money, hard money, and bank or SBA loans. The funding essentially depends on what kind of property you want to get. If it's a mismanaged property, a bank is not going to fund that, so you'd have to get a private lender or a hard money lender to fund that deal. When you want to buy an income-producing property, you can go to a bank or get an SBA loan.   Lastly, we talk about five ways that people can make money in self-storage. According to Stacy, those five ways are mismanaged facilities, cash-flowing properties, new construction, conversions, and wholesaling. She explains that conversions are retail buildings that are now being converted into storage facilities. Stacy also tells us how wholesaling storage facilities is nothing like wholesaling residential properties. In the storage investing world, you need to prepare a package, a whole presentation with all the details and all of the numbers.   Don’t miss this episode of the Just Start Real Estate Podcast, which is all about an amazing segment of our industry, self-storage investing, and get some valuable lessons from Stacy Rossetti! Notable Quotes:   “I just became more and more confident in just telling my lenders what my terms are.” Stacy Rossetti   “As a mother, what I wanted was security.” Stacy Rossetti   “The storage investing world is a very small niche. There are only 15,000 storage facilities in the country.” Stacy Rossetti   “Don't be afraid to run your business and make a profit, because that's the whole point of buying these properties.” Stacy Rossetti   “If you learn how to run storage facilities, they are totally virtual. They're totally electronic, totally passive, so you can really be anywhere in the country and run them.” Stacy Rossetti   “You have to really look at the bigger picture and run the numbers. That's the hardest part of the whole thing.” Stacy Rossetti   “The higher the cap rate, the riskier the property.” Stacy Rossetti   “Start educating yourself on the population of your towns, and th

My guest today is the legitimate social media celebrity, Daniel Iles! Daniel is a TikTok and Youtube creator who bought a staggering $1,000,000 in real estate during his first year of investing while only putting $23,000 down. He did this by leveraging credit to invest, and in the process, he accumulated almost 1M travel points, enabling him to see the world. His goal now is to teach others absolutely everything they need to know to live a life free of financial struggles.   We start the episode with Daniel sharing his background story and how he started his career as an entrepreneur. After he graduated from university with his degrees in Accounting and Business Administration, he knew that he wanted to be an entrepreneur. As he was trying to learn as much as he could about entrepreneurship, he didn’t have a real focus on intentionally getting into real estate. He started by reading a bunch of books because he didn't have any experience in real estate prior to that, and he didn't know anyone in the field. So, he basically had to start from scratch, just using what he learned through books and podcasts.    We then move on to talk about Daniel’s career in social media and how real estate has allowed him to leave his 9-5 job to focus on his career as a social media creator. When he first started, he simply couldn't devote enough time to content creation. It wasn't until he was able to leave his 9-5 accounting job, thanks to the cash flow he was receiving from his rental properties, that he could really put a solid effort into social media and really learn what works in the social media world. Daniel shares that this was a two-year journey where he faced a lot of failures and difficult experiences trying to improve himself, and then all of a sudden, this last November, he was able to leave his accounting job and from there it's just been a snowball effect, allowing him to rapidly grow.   Our next topic is why and how Daniel got into real estate. He was 22 when he bought his first duplex with an FHA loan, and what really got him into it was the understanding that he didn't need most of what many people think you need to start in real estate: a long employment history, a huge income, and a lot of money saved up, all of which he didn't have because he had just gotten out of college. He was able to find strategies that allowed him to invest in real estate just by accumulating knowledge from other real estate investors. So, his first property ended up being an FHA-backed property, FHA insured, which means he was able to get in the property with 3.5% down.    Daniel then shares with us some of his creative financing options when it comes to buying properties. He used more flexible lenders, private lenders, credit unions to purchase his other properties with $0 down. He was still right out of college, he still didn't have much money, but he was saving a lot more because his rentals were covering his monthly living expenses. He would find flexible lenders and negotiate the purchase price down, and he would be able to buy it using that spread between the purchase price and what the property is actually worth as his down payment, rather than having to pay that himself. He did do some renovations on those properties and he was able to increase the value even more. Then he could go about selling the property or refinancing them to be able to get all that money out and then some.   Eventually, we talk about Daniel’s goals when he first got started in real estate versus his goals now.  When he first started out, he had the goal to buy tons of rental properties so he would just be able to sit back and collect the profits. But once he started buying into them, he realized that his mindset at the time was really limited by what he knew about real estate. Once he actually started doing it, his goals shifted. He realized that he could get paid large sums of potentially tax-free money just from buying a property with no money down, and then somehow liquidating that equity. Almost like a wholesale, but he is the only person involved in the transaction. This was a much better option because he is able to keep the asset in many of the cases.   Lastly, we talk about the scope of what Daniel has done so far. He did have an aggressive outlook on what he wanted to do in real estate and he’s been able to accumulate quite an impressive portfolio in a short amount of time, at a pretty young age. He was 23 years old when he bought his second property, and at that point, he had about half a million dollars in total assets. Right now, he is at 1.4 million dollars and is looking at another acquisition. So basically, he went from half a million dollars in real estate to upwards of 2 million, in just two years and at the age of 24.   Don’t miss this episode of the Just Start Real Estate Podcast, with an amazing young real-estate investor Daniel Iles, who was able to generate incredible results by

I am truly excited for today’s episode because I am joined by the amazing Gino Wickman! Gino has been an entrepreneur since the age of 21 and he always had an obsession for learning what makes businesses thrive. After taking over and transforming his family business at the age of 25, Gino then set out to help business leaders achieve their goals. Based on his years of real-world experience, he created the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS), a practical method for helping companies achieve greatness. The EOS Tools are being used by more than 70,000 companies. He is also the author of the award-winning, best-selling book Traction: Get a Grip on your Business and his newest endeavor, The Entrepreneurial Leap. The mission of Entrepreneurial Leap is to find all of the entrepreneurs-in-the-making, at any age, wherever they are to help them realize their purpose and live the life they were born to live.   We begin the episode with Gino’s background story and how he found his true passion, which is helping other entrepreneurs. After turning his father’s company around and ultimately selling it, he spent the next five years creating the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS). He then decided to leverage it by writing a book and building a team of EOS implementers. Fast forward to today, they now have 425 implementers all over the world, 100,000 companies running on that system, and over a million copies of the book sold!   Our next topic is Gino’s new book, The Entrepreneurial Leap. According to his new book, there are six traits that every entrepreneur needs in order to be successful: visionary, passionate, problem-solver, driven, risk-taker, and responsible. Gino wrote this book in three parts: confirm, glimpse and path. There is a psychology and a reason behind that linear approach: confirm is about confirming whether or not you have those six essential traits, glimpse is about showing you a glimpse of all the possibilities, and path is about showing you a path to greatly increase your odds of success.   We continue our discussion about Gino’s book, but we move onto the characteristics of entrepreneurs. The characteristics of an entrepreneur are different than the six essential traits and Gino uses more of what he calls the 80% rule, meaning you don't have to have 100% of these characteristics but you should have most of them. Some of these characteristics are: idea generator, dreamer, earner, curious, always thinking about the future, and great strategic thinker. But also some challenging ones, like: trouble staying focused, get bored easily, disorganized, control freak, perfectionist, not necessarily financially savvy, etc. According to Gino, it is extremely important to know your weaknesses as an entrepreneur, because that allows you to go hire someone to handle all those weaknesses for you.    We then discuss the 6th essential skill, which is responsible. One of the ways that Gino explains about being responsible is to blame no one. In Gino’s own words: if you're an entrepreneur who owns a building and that building gets hit by a meteor, that was your fault. In other words, a responsible person will say: I chose that building, I built that building, I moved there, that's my fault and this is my problem to solve. And an irresponsible person will blame everyone else for what happened. This is one of the reasons why Gino believes that people are born with these traits and that they can't be taught, and it’s nature over nurture.    Our next topic is the eight critical mistakes that create a nightmare scenario for entrepreneurs: not having a vision, hiring wrong people, not spending time with your people, not knowing who your customer is, not charging enough, not staying true to your core, not knowing your numbers and not crystalizing roles and responsibilities. In his book, Gino shares countless real-world stories, so that you can see entrepreneurs who were where you are and what they built. We also discuss the importance of mentorship. Having a mentor will get you there faster, but please know that not having a mentor doesn't mean that you're going to fail. A mentor is simply someone who is where you want to be and an opportunity for them to share their wisdom and for you to share your problems, insights, thoughts, questions, challenges, and they can help you because they've experienced all that.   Eventually, we discuss the difference between passion and passionate. Passionate is an essential trait, one of the six you must have to be an entrepreneur. What Gino teaches in his book is the vital necessity of a passion, and how to discover your passion. He believes that the number one reason you're going to succeed as an entrepreneur is by having a passion for something. Because as an entrepreneur, you're going to get knocked down often, and the only thing that gets an entrepreneur to pick themselves up and continue to go against all odds is passion. Passion is the thing

In today’s episode, I’m happy to be interviewing Jay Harvey. Jay and his wife Samera are investors, consultants, and educators and they are passionate about helping others gain financial freedom through mobile home investing. After completing over 400 mobile home transitions, they have perfected the process and now train beginner investors on how to close their first mobile home real estate deal in under 30 days with little or no money. They are also the founders of Trailer Cash Academy, which they started in 2019 and is the fastest-growing mobile home investing education and training program in the country.   First, Jay shares his background story and how his home investing journey started in 2017 with a loss of over $90,000 in unsuccessful real estate deals. We then moved on to discuss how Jay and his wife had to learn their way out of that loss. Jay explains how they had to embrace the ”accept the challenge” mindset, and how going back to their old jobs was not an option. They knew that going back was detrimental to their vision and, possibly, their marriage. Luckily, they were able to move on from that with help of family and friends.    Jay also shares how going to a seminar about mobile homes intrigued him to start his own mobile home investing journey. After some research, they found that not only was this niche their way out but that there were a lot of people who needed this type of housing. They took action and became more and more enticed by the idea.   We then move on to talking about their first deal. Even though they were looking for passive income, their first deal turned out to be a fix-and-flip property. The next few deals helped them create a consistent cash flow, and today they own 15 mobile homes that cash-flow from $300 to $700 per month. Additionally, they are also wholesaling deals.    Jay helps me dispel a few myths. He explains how to find deals for mobile homes, shares his strategies, and explains how networking works in mobile home investing. He goes in-depth explaining the no-money strategies that he teaches to his students and how to find buyers.   We also touch on the topic of choosing the right mobile homes to invest in. Jay shares his rule of thumb when it comes to picking mobile home parks and good areas where the demand is. He also talks about important characteristics of good communities.   After that Jay walks us through the sale process for a mobile home. Selling a mobile home is a lot different than selling a house and is much more like selling a car. There is no deed, there is only title and bill of sale. Additionally, Jay takes us through a sample conversation with a seller when he is wholesaling. He also explains the process of estimating the value of a mobile home.    You don’t want to miss this episode of the Just Start Real Estate Podcast! Jay Harvey shares some amazing and incredibly actionable advice when it comes to the overlooked market of mobile home investing! Notable Quotes:   “We hated our jobs; we hated our lives. You are supposed to go to your job and look at your managers as models for what you are striving to become and we didn’t want that.” Jay Harvey   “We learned our way up to this point; we have to learn our way out.” Jay Harvey   “Knowledge and information are so readily available, but I think what stops people is that they never quit their job, and if something goes wrong, they bail out and they go back to their 9-to-5.” Mike Simmons   “Rule of thumb: just ask yourself would you want your mother or grandmother or living there. If the answer is no, just get out of there.” Jay Harvey   “Don’t overpromise and underdeliver. If you say you are going to buy it, buy it.” Jay Harvey   “Because there are not a lot of mobile home parks being built and there are so many people going through this pandemic, they need affordable housing.” Jay Harvey Links: Trailer Cash Academy Trailer Cash Academy on Facebook  Trailer Cash Academy on YouTube Jay and Samera's Story 7 Figure Flipping Return on Investments Just Start Real Estate JSRE on Facebook Mike on Facebook Mike on Instagram Mike on LinkedIn Mike on Twitter Level Jumping: How I Grew My Business to Over $1 Million in Profits in 12 Months

I am excited to welcome popular podcaster Moneeka Sawyer to the show today! Moneeka is the best-selling author of the book Choose Bliss: The Power and Practice of Joy and Contentment. She is the host of Real Estate Investing for Women, as well as the creator of the Blissful Real Estate Investor Formula that shows smart women how to use real estate investing to retire rich. Moneeka's expertise, and joyous laugh, have been featured in over 50 podcasts, on various stages, radio programs, and TV stations, including ABC, CBS, FOX, and CW.   Moneeka first shares her background story. Her real estate story actually begins before she was even born. Her parents, after coming to America as newlyweds, found that their way to wealth was through real estate. They saved up and they got their very first rental property when Moneeka was just three years old. So, real estate has been a part of her life from the beginning. When she graduated from college during the recession, she struggled for a couple of years and started thinking about real estate. But, even though she saw how good real estate was to her family, she also saw her dad running around at two o'clock in the morning, having problems with the toilets, the tenants, the mortgages, and decided at a very young age that no amount of money was worth it.    One night, after not being able to find a job for some time, she was sitting at the kitchen table with her dad, talking about the stress of it all and he told her something that changed her life. Her father said: “You know Moneeka, everybody has stress, and everybody has money problems. Do you want poor people money problems or do you want rich people money problems?” And that is when she decided to follow in her father’s footsteps.    Moneeka then shares with us how she actually got started in real estate. She explains how she and her husband used the money that they got as a wedding gift (around $10,000) as a down payment for their primary residence and over the next four years, the house grew to $150,000 in equity. They then got a loan for $100,000 and used it to buy another primary residence and they rented their old house. Things were going so great after five years, they decided to sell it. Within the next couple of years, they bought three more houses with the intention to make it easy and joyful and her portfolio grew from there. She now owns a $12 million-dollar business in which she invested only $300,000 of her own money.   Moneeka then further explains her business model and what it looks like now. She started her business by buying the worst places in nice neighborhoods, she would fix them up then she would put someone in there who wanted to take care of the house, and she would train them on how to do that. That is how she created her system over time and is now only renting houses to executives. Moneeka also explains how she did start her business with a negative cash flow and how that was a risk she was willing to take because she knew what her ultimate goal was.    Lastly, we discuss Moneeka’s plans for the future and her expectations when it comes to the real estate market. She believes that real estate has been surprisingly stable. Even though she lost 50% of her value at one point, she was able to hold on to her properties, with the rents covering her expenses, and she made some adjustments and made it through. This is why Moneeka believes that with real estate timing the market is not as important as giving yourself the time to be right.   If you want to learn how to create a blissful life and career through investing in real estate, don’t miss this episode of the Just Start Real Estate Podcast with amazing Moneeka Sawyer! Notable Quotes:   “You know, Moneeka, everybody has stress, and everybody has money problems. Do you want poor people money problems or do you want rich people money problems?” Moneeka Sawyer’s Father   “Unfortunately, I think most people get into this industry and their only focus is money and how to make as much as possible. What they realize is if your only motivation is money, you will inevitably become unhappy with the process.” Mike Simmons    “How much sacrifice is enough to create the life that you really, really want? Happiness is the end goal for everybody.” Moneeka Sawyer    “If everyone who decided they wanted to be a real estate investor or an entrepreneur became one, we would have 1000 times more because most people never get out of their chair and actually do it.” Mike Simmons    “We have an entrepreneurial spirit, it is part of who we are. It is painful to be in corporate if you are an entrepreneur.” Moneeka Sawyer   “But as business people, we need to make decisions that are best for the business and bring our spouses along for the ride in a way that they're comfortable.” Moneeka Sawyer    “Courtesy, common sense, and respect both for and from your spouse are all

In this episode, I am joined by MC Laubscher. He is a cashflow coach and investor, and serial entrepreneur. He is also the creator and popular host of the Cashflow Ninja Podcast and Cashflow Investing Secrets Podcast, as well as the President & Chief Executive Officer at Producers Wealth, a virtual wealth creation firm that assists investors and business owners to set up and implement Infinite Banking. MC has shared his strategies in Forbes Magazine, Entrepreneur Magazine, Grant Cardone TV, and the BiggerPockets podcast.   We begin this episode with MC’s background story. He is originally from South Africa and he started his journey playing sports, which is how he ended up in the United States. He was playing in a national league and while traveling from one city to another, he started reading books. On one of those trips, he came across a book that his mom gave him called Rich Dad, Poor Dad, and it completely changed his paradigm. This huge shift in his thinking made him take action and in 2001 he bought his first property. He got his first tenants in, collected the rent, paid the bills, and at the end of the month, he still had money left. That is where his real estate journey started.    We then move on to discussing his “a-ha moments.” The first thing he realized is that cashflow in real estate is amazing, which is why he became super passionate about it. As he dove deep into the financial world, learning more about economics, history, and finance, he eventually ended up looking at banks. He realized that there is a business model there that is unmatched and because they are the creators of the game, they own the chessboard, everyone else is just moving pieces on it. His second “a-ha moment” happened after he reread Rich Dad, Poor Dad and realized that you have to be the bank and you have to become your own banker.   We talked about MC’s beginning stages and how he had to change his belief system in order to take action. This applies in all areas of your life, such as your health, your marriage or relationships, your wealth; nothing is going to happen until you change the lens through which you view the world. MC also believes that if you're married, you have to bring your partner with you on that journey, otherwise, it's going to be a very tough relationship.   Our next topic of conversation is the first property that MC bought back in 2001. He purchased it in South Africa because he grew up in the area, he knew the market, and he knew where the market was going. He bought a two-bedroom condo a couple of blocks from the ocean with a great view and very close to Cape Town. The interest on that mortgage was a double-digit rate, but he was still able to make it work.    We then move on to talking about being your own banker and the strategies that he is using. MC breaks down the banking model, going into detail on how the system operates. He then shares with us the five pillars of a wealth strategy, a framework that we use to make our money. First, we all make our money somewhere, we have a skill that we provide to the marketplace, which we get paid for; second, we've got to position our capital somewhere; third, we have to deploy it to go make more money; fourth, using different growth opportunities; and finally protecting our money through tax strategy, asset protection, and estate planning. So, if you are looking to become your own banker, you have to start by building up reserves and savings first. MC suggested getting six to twelve months of cash reserves and then look at other places to put capital in. But the most important thing that you need to do is position assets so that you can eventually collateralize them.   Finally, MC shares with us what his business looks like today and what his plans are moving forward. One of his businesses is Producers Wealth, where they help people with wealth strategies as well as the infinite banking strategy, which is based on insurance, and that's completely virtual. His other company is Cashflow Ninja, which is an education company and its core principle and philosophy is to empower people to become self-reliant through education.   Join us for another episode of the Just Start Real Estate Podcast with the amazing MC Laubscher and learn everything you need to become your own banker and build your wealth! Notable Quotes:    “It wasn't until I understood the history, the financial history of the world, that it actually all started to make sense.” MC Laubscher    “Being a real estate investor, you're obviously going to end up with debt. And the big part of the game is leveraging debt and good debt. And another part of the game is leveraging the tax code and inflation. And a lot of folks suffer because of those three things.”   MC Laubscher      “You have to change your belief systems, otherwise, nothing will change. And you can put this into other areas of your life, such as yo

My guest today is a fellow real estate investor Frank Scappaticci. Frank is a Westpoint graduate who is on a mission to become a premier buyer and seller, as well as a thought leader, in markets around the United States while placing a high priority on integrity. Together with his partner, John Plumstead, Frank founded Gray Line Investments in 2020. They are a real estate solutions and investment firm that specializes in helping homeowners get rid of burdensome houses quickly. Their goal is to help people improve their lives through real estate investing, education, mentorship, and giving back to veterans.   Our conversion started with Frank’s backstory. His background, for most of his adult life, has been in financial services. Prior to moving full-time into real estate, he worked at JP Morgan, and prior to that, he was an army officer. Frank says that he was not interested in real estate until he hit the age of 30, after buying his primary residence in Westchester. During that time, he fell in love with the house search process. In February 2020, John Plumstead, who had been investing in real estate for five years, reached out to him and they started their company Gray Line Investments.   After learning about Frank’s background, we move on to talking about the concept of tired landlords. This strategy has helped Frank and his partner close four deals in 45 days in the Oklahoma market. Frank explains their process of finding tired landlords by using the PropStream app to filter high equity and years of ownership into property searches. They would then pull that list, put it into CSV, and upload it to Lead Sherpa, an SMS texting platform. By doing this, they were able to get an enormous number of leads.   We then talk about the conversation that Frank had with his wife, after realizing that real estate was the way to go. Frank shares that the conversation about starting real estate wasn’t particularly difficult. The difficult part for him was explaining to his wife that he wanted to completely quit his full-time job. He wanted at least three months of operating expenses in the bank account for the company and a consistent deal flow before quitting his job.   Our next topic of conversation was the structure of Frank’s company. Their business model is wholesaling and fix-and-flip. In percentage, it is 80% wholesale and 20% fix-and-flip from a volume perspective and 30% revenue from flipping and 70% revenue from wholesaling. They operate in over 10 cities, but they only have really strong contractors in a handful of those cities and Frank recognizes how important it is to have a good contractor when it comes to flipping.   We also walk through the structure of Frank’s company, from a personnel standpoint. They have an acquisition manager, who manages the lead specialists. Lead specialists screen the sellers and notify the acquisition manager when a seller is ready for an appointment. Frank then shares his systems when it comes to wholesaling and flipping remotely across the country.   Lastly, we talk about Frank’s vision for 2021. Frank shares with us that his company is getting incredible buyer demand lately in their wholesaling operation. Their goal for the first quarter is to sustain a pace where they're closing three deals per week, for an overall 150-200 deals in 2021. They are also looking at other ways to expand their brand at this point.   Don’t miss this episode of the Just Start Real Estate Podcast with the super inspiring Frank Scappaticci! As a relative newbie in the world of investing, Frank shares some great insight and attitude with our listeners! Notable Quotes:   “People who try to get their entire business automated and systemized are the ones who never get off the ground because they're always preparing to prepare.” Mike Simmons   “I want to play offense as much as possible. Once you have a really good offense, play some defense to defend the business you have.” Frank Scappaticci   “You need to play defense, but you never stop playing offense. If offense becomes backseat to defense, your business will start sliding downhill.” Mike Simmons   “It’s not cheap to wholesale, especially once you scale.” Frank Scappaticci   “I don't nickel and dime my contractors at the beginning. If I find a trustworthy person, I don't try to knock them down on their pricing.” Frank Scappaticci   “I try to treat them as a consultant and then good contractors feel valued. They're doing it to make money but it doesn't hurt to have them psychologically invested in the project.” Frank Scappaticci   “I don't think real estate needs to be crazy and creative. You need to be good at blocking and tackling the fundamentals, and then you'll do just fine, you'll scale up.” Mike Simmons   “You create expectations on your team. If you raise the expectations, the game changes, and then the activities change, and the resu

In this episode, I interview Justin Hannah, a successful real estate investor and host of the popular “Real Estate Investing 365” podcast. He discusses how he increased his net worth from $5,000 at 20 years old to over 7 figures by 31 years old and quit his job as a lineman to pursue real estate full-time. Today, Justin owns over $2 million worth of real estate, which consists of 12 rental units and a single-family home.   Justin shares his background story. He explains his entry into real estate starting as a product of his competitive relationship with his cousin who, at the time bought a house, causing him to do so, too. Working on power lines had been Justin's job, and although it paid well, it was too demanding for someone who wanted to spend more time with family. It was mostly coincidental that he got into real estate at such a lucrative period.   Justin explains that his decision to go into real estate investing was after buying his first rental property. While admitting that over the past ten years he could have made much more progress, he walks us through how he essentially acquired his first three rental units and his primary house for $18,000. It is important to note that he never wanted to stay working as a lineman, and this motivated him to use real estate as his exit strategy. Comparatively, he realized he could make his entire pension as a lineman from one rental facility in a couple of years.   Going forward, Justin’s goal would be to buy more rental properties and to get involved with the single-family market, because of how lucrative it is currently. His story reflects that you don't need to have hundreds of thousands of dollars to start; you just need a little money and trade upwards.   I asked Justin to describe what his business would ideally look like in five years. He shares that he would like to have 100 units, and $15,000 per month in passive income, noting the practical steps he is taking towards achieving that. His immediate goal this year is to get ten more units and do twenty off-market deals. One way he is trying to achieve these goals is by doing a 30-day challenge to raise half a million dollars. I explain that part of being a real estate investor is fundraising, especially in cases like Justin's where the investor is not currently bankable.   Justin admits that he is working on his mindset to be less negative and improve on his psychological well-being. When you're in your job for hours a day, you're focused on that, so it's hard for your mind to let go and start being creative. After quitting his job, Justin notes that his mind started thinking expansively, both personally and in his business, and so the growth is exponential.    We talked about Justin’s podcast, Real Estate Investing 365. He shares that the podcast was started because he was having difficulty finding people who were above him in real estate, so the goal was Networking. Additionally, it helped him offer advice to people and help others avoid the mistakes he had made.   You will not want to miss this awesome episode of the Just Start Real Estate Podcast with up-and-coming investor and podcaster, Justin Hannah! Notable Quotes:    "My main goal is not to be a wholesaler; I want to find more properties that meet my criteria to own as rental properties." Justin Hannah   "In five years, I would like to own one hundred units. Right now, I'm not bankable so I have to be creative." Justin Hannah   "Something as simple as not waking up to an alarm clock is magical." Mike Simmons   "When you are an entrepreneur, you can decide what works best for you." Mike Simmons   “It is so important to work on your mindset, to be more positive, and improve your psychological well-being.” Justin Hannah Links: Justin’s Podcast Justin on Instagram 500k Challenge Mike’s FREE Coaching 7 Figure Flipping Return on Investments Just Start Real Estate JSRE on Facebook Mike on Facebook Mike on Instagram Mike on LinkedIn Mike on Twitter Level Jumping: How I Grew My Business to Over $1 Million in Profits in 12 Months

For today's episode, I gladly welcome realtor turned investor Bentley Pugh, who joins us to discuss his incredible journey in life and business so far. In 2006, Bentley sold his landscaping company and became an agent most interested in commercial real estate. Since then, he's evolved from a real estate broker to managing his family-owned real estate investment firm, Beachworks LLC.   At first, we learn how Bentley's backstory has profoundly impacted his career and business. He studied business and marketing, and while in college, started a landscaping company to have a passive income source. He spent the next five to six years as a realtor and then turned to real estate as an investor. Bentley has shared with us today why he chose to do that and how the pivot helped him in the long run.   He shares how having the capital to start with was advantageous for them as it was rare for anybody just beginning to have enough to invest. Bentley also shares why it is essential to keep adjusting to the market's changing trends and ways. We discuss why it's important to know both knowledgeable and neutral people in life and how both can positively shape your path. If you know smarter people, you could get valuable tips to scaling and expanding your business, and if you have friends and mentors outside of the business, you have a fair chance of getting unbiased, heartfelt input from them.   Bentley also shares how relationships with contractors and others in the business are extremely important. Your business can have phenomenal growth if you find people who are really into it. He also discusses his plans and where he wishes to take his business moving forward. He still focuses on their core business, which is single-family, construction, or townhome sites, while still doing some wholesaling and flipping of properties.   We also learn how these unprecedented times of the pandemic have added to his choices on spending. Bentley has cut his expenses by 10 to 15% by filtering out what he doesn't need. He stressed what an important lesson this is for each of us to benefit us in life and business.   Please tune in to the Just Start Real Estate Podcast to know all that this extraordinary businessman has shared with us today and take your business to another level. Do not miss out on this insightful episode with Bentley Pugh! Notable Quotes:   “We can't use our new construction contractors on a flip because they're just not into that. ” Bentley Pugh   “For us, we had capital when we started out, which was very rare at the time. We were going after large, untitled, distressed development properties.” Bentley Pugh   “Real estate's sort of like a chameleon - you have to be constantly adjusting and thinking where the market is going to go.” Bentley Pugh   “Don't try to change the recipe. If the recipe works, use it. If you apply it and it doesn't work as well, then change it for sure.” Mike Simmons   “During the pandemic, I've cut my spending probably 10% to 15%. It isn’t really affecting my business.” Bentley Pugh   “You surround yourself with some people that are smarter than you, they answer your questions, and then you can feed the end results to your buyers” Bentley Pugh   “So it's really all about relationships. Our relational foundation is a model that has never changed.” Bentley Pugh   “Helping people helps to reinforce what you already know.  It also makes you realize some of the things that maybe you're not doing as well as you used to do.” Mike Simmons Links: Bentleys Website Bentley’s LinkedIn Mike’s Free Coaching 7 Figure Flipping Return on Investments Just Start Real Estate JSRE on Facebook Mike on Facebook Mike on Instagram Mike on LinkedIn Mike on Twitter Level Jumping: How I Grew My Business to Over $1 Million in Profits in 12 Months

For this episode, I am happy to welcome Jason Yarusi. Jason and his wife, Pili,  are active Real Estate Syndicators and Real Estate Investors. In 2016 they founded Yarusi Holdings, a multifamily investment firm and they are General Partners on over 850 units across four states with 450 units under management. The firm repositions properties through operational efficiencies, moderate to extensive renovations and complete rebranding. They are also hosts of the popular Multifamily Live Podcast and The Jason and Pili Project on Youtube. Jason and Pili are founders of the Tennessee, Kentucky and New Jersey Multifamily Foundation Club with over 2,200 members that focuses on Real Estate Syndication and Multifamily Investing.   I start by letting the audience know that Jason and his wife and I are friends and have known each other for several years, so that I will be asking him questions I already know the answers to! I know that they both started working in other fields before moving into real estate, so I asked Jason to give us some of his background. He talks about how they first met, when he was invited to perform some restoration construction work on the barge bar that Pili worked at. In the wake of Hurricane Sandy, they began working for Jason’s dad who owned a company which moves and lifts houses in New Jersey. They loved supporting and assisting in the running of their family business, but they knew they also wanted more for themselves.   When they first started in real estate investing, they were flipping and wholesaling single family homes like crazy, but they felt like they had filled their plate to overflowing and wanted a more passive income model of investing. A friend of theirs was investing in out-of-town rentals, which seemed attractive to them, but they decided to start looking at multifamily units. In 2017, they bought their first apartment building and learned the process of that kind of property investing.   Jason explained that part of the reason that flipping and wholesaling wasn’t working for them was because they were doing it locally and kept throwing themselves in the process. Not only did this take away their free-time but it often slowed down the process itself! Investing in out-of-town multifamily properties really benefited them because they were forced to hire a team and put processes in place to handle and manage these assets. Jason talks extensively about the advantages of being involved in multifamily versus single family homes.   We then discussed how Jason and Pili are reaching out and educating people in the multifamily investing model. I asked Jason to explain why they decided to do this because I know they are a super busy, young family. Jason explained how they developed relationships and made mistakes, but their hope is to have others avoid those same mistakes and realize their goals more quickly.   Jason talked about the Multifamily Live Virtual Summit that they are hosting on March 25th and 26th and he stressed how beneficial these events and meetings are for new investors. Jason explained they are having twelve active multifamily investors speak at this event and each of them have a particular superpower in order to impart as much varied information as possible to the attendees. Not only is the information provided going to be extremely actionable, but it is also FREE!   The people I trust the most in this business all definitively say that Jason is the man when it comes to multifamily investing so you will not want to miss this awesome episode the Just Start Real Estate Podcast! And don’t forget to sign up for next week’s Multifamily Live Virtual Summit today by clicking the link below! Notable Quotes:   “Like most people, we were just trying to figure it out.” Jason Yarusi   “We knew we needed to get back to where we were controlling our time.” Jason Yarusi   “Active effort produces money, but at that point, you are trading time for money.” Jason Yarusi   “Most people think they need to say ‘yes’ to everything to maximize their opportunities, but they risk diluting themselves and not being great at anything.” Mike Simmons   “What can I do today to meet the potential of this property?” Jason Yarusi   “When starting a new venture you need to understand the mindset, understand the terms, and how to talk the talk.” Jason Yarusi   “People look at the mountain top and think, ‘Too big, too tall, can’t even imagine it.’ But you don’t need to get to the top in the first step.” Mike Simmons   “Ultimately, it is a team sport. Working together is more beneficial and gratuitous because we are all serving a bigger purpose.” Jason Yarusi   “Where people get stuck is that they feel they have to accomplish all of these things on their own.” Jason Yarusi   “Educating others is about making the line straighter for them so it isn’t a gigantic bell curve for them to get to where they want to be.” Jason Yar

For this episode, I am excited to welcome Johnny Wimbrey, an internationally-acclaimed talk show host, #1 best-selling author, and motivational speaker whose charismatic nature inspires everyone from inner-city youth to corporate moguls and celebrities. Author and writer of the best-selling book, From the Hood to Doing Good, Johnny has just released his new book, Building a Millionaire Mindset: How to Use the Pillars of Entrepreneurship to Gain, Maintain, and Sustain Long-Lasting Wealth. Johnny Wimbrey expounds on critical concepts in his book and also shares his incredible rags-to-riches story with us in this powerful interview.   Johnny introduces himself and shares his personal and professional history. He describes his rough past and run-ins with the law, noting how this affected his ability to get a job since it deterred companies from hiring him.    Talking about his book, Building a Millionaire Mindset, Johnny points out how it focuses on the mindset regarding wealth, describing that he wrote it like he was writing to teach his descendants how to keep making wealth. He strongly recommends the book for first-generation millionaires as it explains the impact of your inner voice on your success and the success of your children.   We discuss the need to walk away from negative or harmful situations that you may encounter in life. This is done by exercising your mental muscle, the muscle of being able to walk away from controversy and acting as if you have something to lose. Mike also explains the importance of a successful mindset over being spoon-fed with tactics or methods. Johnny agrees that the inheritance for his kids is not his money but the principles to manage the money.   Johnny narrates the experience of trying to turn his life around, what he characterizes as participating in your own rescue. He describes his work as a temporary insurance agent and trying to get his license during this time. He details the many failures along the way, and the persistent effort he put at each point of failing, taking part in rescuing himself from the impending demise that would have been a fallout of his previous actions.    Johnny explains the importance of having a mentor to hold you accountable for actions taken and how dangerous it can be to not have another person’s council. A mentor can't just be a cheerleader as they are supposed to shake you up and help you make real change in your life. Johnny stressed that you can't mentor anybody unless you have a genuine interest to see them level up in life.   I asked Johnny to describe what he means by being busy versus being productive. He said when people equate this to be the same thing it is a huge lie. Being productive requires intention and direction. If someone takes a step towards something and it has nothing to do with their goal, even if it is helpful in another area, it cannot be considered as truly productive in regard to what they have said is important to them. Additionally, if being busy doesn't mean being productive, it follows that you can be productive without constantly being busy.   We also discussed how adopting someone else's mentality wholesale should not your reality. In every industry there are influencers and you have to be able to discern between voices that are in line with your goals and voices of disruption. How people around you see the world should not affect you and you have to break out of such a mindset. Johnny points out that a friend is a person, place, or thing that's going to push you towards your goals while a foe is a person, place, or thing that's going to pull you away from your goals. You can't allow someone else's thinking to become your reality because if you do, it could change the DNA that you were designed to put out in this lifetime.   Johnny’s book is filled with actionable steps and instructions to provide the reader an opportunity to live each experience that goes beyond the written words. You will not want to miss this powerful interview on the Just Start Real Estate Podcast with popular influencer and successful businessman, Johnny Wimbrey! Notable Quotes:   "My story is basically this: where you come from doesn't have to dictate where you're going, your past doesn't have to determine your future." Johnny Wimbrey   "It's just amazing what abundance some people start with and not appreciate how much farther ahead they actually started." Mike Simmons   "The bottom line is, what voice are you going to entertain the most? That is the reality you are going to manifest." Johnny Wimbrey   "How do you develop muscles if you're not forced to lift anything?" Mike Simmons   "We are not raising 'try' babies. We are raising 'do' babies" Johnny Wimbrey   "One of the worst things you can do to someone is to give them something they didn't earn or have no idea what to do with." Mike Simmons   "If I give you fish, I rescued you. If I teac

In this episode, our guest, Brent Kesler, who was a Chiropractor and Chiropractic coach for over 14 years, shares a very unique strategy that got him out of $984,711 in third-party debt. He accomplished this in 39 months after implementing The Money Multiplier (TMM) Method. He became so passionate about how powerful this concept was, he began sharing it with others, and he breaks down the basic principles in this interview.   Brent shares his background, explaining how he grew up in Florida and worked his way up the ranks in a grocery store. He had always wanted to be a Chiropractor but was financially constrained. Following a transfer to St. Louis, where he met his wife, she encouraged him to go to chiropractic school and gave him immense support. In the end, though, he found himself with some pretty substantial debts to pay off.   Explaining how he ended up with five chiropractic clinics, Brent notes that he moved from his first clinic upon realizing that the location wouldn't work for his family. He trained an associate doctor to work there and opened another. Subsequently, he did the same for the second clinic when he was craving more free time. After eventually selling all the clinics, Brent believes he should have kept part ownership of the business since it was such a great profit center.    Brent explains that he was recommended a talk called, "The Infinite Banking Concept: How to Become Your Own Banker," based on a book by Nelson Nash. After hearing from his colleagues the power of this particular strategy, and with almost a million dollars in debt, he decided to apply it. He paid off all his debts within 39 months of beginning the use of this strategy, without changing cash flow, working harder, or taking more risk.    Brent said that all he needed to do was change one thing in his financial life and that was developing his own infinite banking concept process. This involves building your wealth with a specifically designed whole life insurance policy in a mutual company that pays dividends. It is a huge cash value policy and you're able to start using money paid into premium within the first 30 days. The idea is that anytime Brent uses money in the policy, he doesn't take money from the policy but instead puts the policy up for collateral to take a loan from the general fund of the insurance company. This means his money is untouched and still growing tax-free.   Brent discusses the details of buying policies and taking loans in this way. He also noted that you never have to pay back your policy loan, because the loan is simply a prepayment of the death benefit and the death benefit is usually far more than the loan or cash available. Also, the insurance company cannot lose because you're guaranteed to die at some point and any outstanding loan you have on the policy will be paid by the death benefit. The difference between the death benefit and the loan will be paid to your beneficiaries.   Brent Kesler describes how to fund your real estate deals using this strategy in his book, Mapping Out The Millionaire Mystery, which he wrote with Chris Naugle, a client of his. Chris is active in real estate investing, and he shows how he uses all his policies to fund his deals. Brent shares that although Chris was a financial adviser, he never learned about this strategy until they met. He explains that insurance companies don't teach agents about designing the policy this way because the agents have to take a huge hit in their commission.   Brent explains that he never tells anyone where to start with their premium and that you don't need to have a huge amount of money to start. He shares that 91% of the clients that have been with him for a year or more, come back and add onto their policy. Before Brent sets up a call with a potential client, he advises them to watch the presentation at the top of his website’s home page, under the Resources tab, to get acquainted with his investing strategies.   Brent shares that all listeners of Mike's podcast can contact him to get his Mapping Out The Millionaire Mystery ebook for free or choose to pay for postage to get the hardback copy. You don’t want to miss this episode of the Just Start Real Estate Podcast to get this unique, exciting, and helpful advice for achieving financial freedom with The Money Multiplier, Brent Kesler! Notable Quotes:   "Love doesn't buy your lunch." Brent Kesler   “I told my wife at age 28, ‘If I go and do this, by the time I'm done, I'm going to be 34 years old.’ My wife said, ‘Well, if you don't do it, you will still be 34 years old in 6 years.’” Brent Kesler   "People think if they're older than their early 20s, they're locked into what they are doing, but they're not." Mike Simmons   "Make a decision...you can either play for the next 10 years and then have to work the rest of your life, or you can work for the next 10 years and play for the rest of your life.

For this episode, I welcome Kris Reid to the show. Kris is a business growth expert and founder of Ardor SEO. He developed a simple system to get your message in front of your ideal audience to predictably grow your business. Now, he works with diverse companies and brands all over the world to help them get customers and make the profits that they've always envisioned. His own passion for entrepreneurship, small businesses, veganism, and helping sustainable, ethical businesses directs his vision for Ardor and the company's impact on the world.   Kris first shares with us his background story. After getting his degree as a Software Engineer, Kris moved from Brisbane, Australia to London, UK, and worked with investment banks. When the 2008 global financial crisis hit, his career was destroyed. He moved back to Australia and decided to build an online computer game. Like many online businesses, he struggled to get visitors to his website to play the game. So, Kris put his analytical mind to work and by learning the rules of search engine optimization (SEO), he developed a simple system to get people to his website. He then started building websites to sell backlinks and that started his SEO journey.   Without having any previous knowledge about SEO, Kris is completely self-taught. We talk about the importance of backlinks, which Kris believes are fundamentals of how Google works. The more backlinks you have from more credible sources that are in your niche, the more trusted you are and the better you are going to rank.   We then move on to talking about Google making changes in their algorithm and how it can affect SEO marketing. Kris then goes on to explain the difference between two different types of SEO: whitehat SEO (things that Google likes) and blackhat SEO (things that Google doesn’t like). If you are doing blackhat SEO and Google discovers it, you will receive penalties and you can lose all of your traffic. Google’s algorithm is getting better and better at finding good websites and good, quality content online. So, if you have a good website, changes to Google’s algorithm will not affect you.      Kris shares with us some of the most common mistakes that people make when it comes to SEO. One of the most noticeable things for him is that he believes people spend too much time on their websites talking about themselves. Your page needs to be simple: show the person that you can solve their problem, show examples of your work, and make it easy for people to do business with you.    Kris believes that most marketing is a waste of money. He says this is mostly true when it comes to traditional marketing: TV ads, radio ads, paper ads because it is almost impossible for you to track if anybody is paying attention to your ads. With digital marketing, you can track everything and you know exactly where your customers are coming from. SEO is the best form of digital marketing because it has a compounding type of return.   I also asked Kris for his advice on how to grow a podcast. His main advice is, just like with SEO, to do some keyword research. If you have a podcast once a week and you rank it for a hundred search volume keywords, it is a hundred searches a month. In the span of a year, you have a website that is generating 5,200 visitors a month and that translates into a million-dollar website.   Our next topic was marketing agencies. When looking for an agency you want someone who is going to focus on your goals and help you grow your business to where you want it to be. You want an agency that will show you a report of your revenue growth, tell you where your leads came from, and where your money came from. You want that type of personal approach in a firm for the best possible outcome.   Kris also talks about how often a website represents a part of the problem. He explains that there are two ways to generate more customers: to increase traffic or to increase conversions. The easiest way is to increase traffic and once you get enough traffic then you focus on the website to see if the conversion is good or not.   Do not miss out on this amazing and super informative episode of the Just Start Real Estate Podcast with business growth and SEO expert, Kris Reid! Notable Quotes:   “When you are building a business, you are building it for the long game.” Kris Reid   “The longer you are around, Google appreciates that and trusts you more.” Kris Reid   “Backlinks are super important. They are the fundamentals of how Google works.” Kris Reid   “The more backlinks you have from more credible sources that are in your niche, the more trusted you are and the better you are going to rank.” Kris Reid   “A website is designed to get in front of people who don’t know who you are.” Kris Reid   “Google’s algorithm, all it is ever doing, is getting better at finding quality websites and getting rid of the crappy ones.” Kris Re

For this episode, I am excited to welcome Sean Castrina. Sean is a serial entrepreneur, having started more than 20 companies over the last 20 years, and still seeks to launch a new venture annually. He is an amazing investor, teacher, and highly-sought-after speaker who communicates with humor and a bluntness that engages and captures his audience. His podcast The 10 Minute Entrepreneur, is one of iTunes’ most popular business shows. Sean is also the author of 8 Unbreakable Rules for Business Startup Success, The Greatest Entrepreneur in the World, and World’s Greatest Business Plan.   We start this episode with Sean’s background story. After graduating from college, he was able to secure his dream job. But five years later, he got fired overnight with no warning, after just having a newborn child. This was the moment he realized that he would never again work for anybody but himself. He went on to create a car detailing company that brought in $35,000 of passive income. He repeated that formula with service companies over the next 25 years.   Sean started a lot of businesses in his lifetime and along the way he learned that you don’t have to love that business, you don’t even have to be a part of it, in order to make a profit. As an entrepreneur, his goal is to systematize them and make them passive at some level. Sean goes on to talk about how the fact that he was born legally blind affected his childhood and his adult life. He explains how it taught him to work with that, around that, and defeat any obstacle that came his way.    We then move on to learn more about Sean’s entrepreneurial career. He talks about how, after creating his detailing business, he started working with other service companies. At one point, he wanted to turn his dining room into an office, but he soon realized that it was impossible to find a handyman in his community. Led by his entrepreneurial spirit, he started a company named Advantage Handyman Service that ended up being a multimillion-dollar company within the first three years, and soon it will be an 8-figure company. It was always the same formula that turned out to be successful for him - service companies.    We then move on to talking about Sean’s plans for the future. His goal is to start a new company every single year. He explains how some business owners have an entrepreneurial moment - they start a business and they are happy with that, but that is where it stops. Some entrepreneurs are addicted to looking for the next thing that they can get involved in, an opportunity that is within what they know and understand.   Sean and I then dive into discussing one of his books called 8 Unbreakable Rules for Business Startup Success. He shares his perspective about the book and walks us through all eight rules that helped him become a successful business owner. Among other things, he explains why you need a great team, why you need to know your numbers, and how important marketing is.    Lastly, Sean shares his amazing advice on how to learn from other successful entrepreneurs. Business owners love to get a pat on the back and they love to tell you what they are doing. His advice is to go to any business owner, tell them you love their business and you would just love to bring them a cup of coffee once a month and pick their brain for twenty minutes. You will get a wealth of wisdom from doing this simple task!   Don’t miss this episode of Just Start Real Estate that is filled with practical and incredibly actionable advice from an amazing, and most definitely serial, entrepreneur, Sean Castrina! Notable Quotes:   “A job is not security. At the very least, you have to put up with stuff that you don't even like.” Sean Castrina   “There are very few jobs that are like being an entrepreneur.” Sean Castrina   “Business is nothing but chess pieces; every chess piece moves a little bit differently. Employment is playing checkers; you move linear, trying to get to the end of the board.”  Sean Castrina   “You are not going to be good if you do everything. Do a couple of things really, really well.” Mike Simmons   “When you face an obstacle, you climb over it and that paints the picture of who you become.” Sean Castrina   “Do the craft that you are good at.” Sean Castrina   “Entrepreneurs are addicted to the next thing they can get involved in.” Sean Castrina   “When you are an entrepreneur, you are constantly looking for something that works within what you know and understand.”  Sean Castrina   “This is a hard game to win if you don’t know any of the rules.”  Sean Castrina Links: Download a FREE COPY of Sean’s book, 8 Unbreakable Rules for Business Startup Success Sean on Instagram  Sean on Facebook Sean on LinkedIn Sean on YouTube Sean on Twitter Mike's FREE Coaching 7 Figure Flipping Return on Investments Just Start Real Estate JSRE on Facebook Mike on Facebook Mi

Today, I am so excited to welcome Tom Wheelwright! Tom is known as a tax and wealth expert, he is a CPA, and the CEO of WealthAbility®. He is the Best-Selling Author of Tax-Free Wealth (part of the Rich Dad Advisors Series). Tom is a speaker, entrepreneur, and host of two popular podcasts: The WealthAbility™ Show and The WealthAbility® for CPAs Show. He is a contributor to Entrepreneur magazine, and his work has been seen in Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, FOX and Friends, and many other media outlets.  We begin this episode, as we often do, with Tom’s background. Tom began his career doing bookkeeping for his father’s company. After getting his master's of Professional Accounting degree from the University of Texas, he managed and led the professional training for thousands of CPAs at Ernst & Young’s National Tax Department in Washington, D.C. He was an in-house tax advisor for Pinnacle West Capital Corporation, at the time a Fortune 1000 company and he also served as an adjunct professor in the Masters of Tax program at Arizona State University for 14 years, where he created the course for teaching multi-state tax planning techniques. Tom now teaches the Rich Dad Education Advanced Tax and Asset Protection class and he is also currently building a network of CPA firms around the world in order to serve more people.  We then talk about the importance of planning and thinking ahead when it comes to taxes. Having these discussions with your CPA early on in the tax year helps you to prepare properly. As a successful business owner, you need to know your numbers every single day. And when you know where you stand, it is much easier to plan out your taxes.  We briefly touch on the differences between bookkeepers and CPAs. According to Tom, your bookkeeper is there to provide accurate records that help you make right decisions. Your CPA is there to analyze those records. The role of your bookkeeper is to keep you accountable, and it is that accountability that creates profitability.  Tom then talks about buying and selling CPA firms, as well as creating them from scratch. He walks us through the process of turning around a CPA firm after the purchase. For Tom, it was all about building appropriate systems. For example, very few CPAs have a system for meeting with clients: when, how often, what is the goal, etc. Tom believes that systems are what creates value in a business, that they are the primary asset of the business.  We then move on to talking about Tom's partnership with Robert Kiyosaki. The two met when Tom bought a CPA firm that had Robert as one of the clients. This just proves that you never know where your contacts can lead you. Tom goes into detail explaining how all the pieces came together at the right time and led to him becoming Robert’s tax advisor.   We then discuss the current political situation. We talk about how political changes affect us and what should we know from a small-business standpoint. Tom’s estimate is that the taxes will probably go up in the next four years. The incentives will probably shift to clean, renewable energy. From a real-estate point of view, if you have a real estate with solar production or hydroelectric production, that will be a great source of cash-flow. These changes will require an adjustment to how we think when it comes to real estate.  Lastly, we dive into the stimulus bill. Tom takes us through some of the most important parts of the bill as far as taxes are concerned: restaurant business meals (both takeout and dine-in) are 100% deductible for the next two years, extending the universal charitable deduction through 2021, and qualifying for PPP loans. Tom then goes on to explain PPP loans even further in regards to the new act. You do not want to miss this amazing and advice-packed episode of the Just Start Real Estate Podcast with the legendary tax expert, Tom Wheelwright! Notable Quotes:    “One of the mistakes that new entrepreneurs, new investors get into is that they are catching up on their taxes, instead of staying ahead.”  Tom Wheelwright   “Good tax records and good tax practices are also good business practices.” Tom Wheelwright    “If you are running a good, tight business and you know your numbers, tax season won’t be so stressful because you will have the information available.”  Mike Simmons    “Your bookkeeper is there to create accuracy, accurate records that you can make good decisions from and your CPA should be there to analyze those records.”  Tom Wheelwright    “If you don't have the documentation, you don’t get to deduct that expense.” Tom Wheelwright    “What a system does is actually create value. Because if you don’t have a system, really all you are doing is constantly selling. If you constantly have to sell, you don’t really have a business, you have a job as a salesman. ”  Tom Wheelwright&nbsp

For today’s episode, I am happy to host Dave Dubeau, a real-estate investor, investor attraction expert, and a best selling author based in British Columbia, Canada. Dave famously began his career back in 2003, doing 18 deals in 18 months, and has continued to grow ever since, doing a remarkable number of client-first, rent-to-own deals, and later investing in multifamily properties. He is truly a master at what he does and has a proprietary 5 Step Money Partner Formula with which he continues to help his clients grow their portfolios significantly in record time by attracting investors.    Dave gives an insight into his childhood when he used to live in a 6-plex, where there were always tenants around, and the idea of rentals was not alien to him. He also gives credits to his mother, who was no slouch at real estate investing herself and racked up a sizable portfolio of over 50 doors while being a working mom. So, the seeds of real estate investing were planted into his mind from an early age.   Dave recalls that when his daughter was getting to school age, they decided to move to North America since it offered better opportunities and a safer environment for kids to grow up in. So, they moved to Canada and started all over again from scratch in 2003. He remembers coming across a Ron LeGrand commercial, saying that you could get into real estate investing with little or no money down, and thinking to himself that it’s perfect because that’s exactly what he had. He immediately took it to action and did 18 deals in 18 months.   Dave then went on to work with a real estate guru, who was pretty much the Canadian version of Robert Kiyosaki who saw what he was doing with marketing and other business dealings. He became the Director of Marketing for his companies and helped him grow from two employees to 128 employees with seven branch offices, clocking in $200 million a year.   Dave shares his non-conventional ways of making deals like instead of starting with the house, and then trying to find somebody for that house, he starts by finding the person and then buying a house for their requirements. He shares his philosophy of raising capital. He says, when it comes to the chicken and the egg, which comes first, the money or the deal, he says the money always comes first, which means that before you go around trying to make deals, you’ve got to have the capital to back you up. That's when you can go after the best deals, that's when you can negotiate the hardest, that's when you can go in with the Mojo because you know, you've got the money to back you up.   Dave then goes ahead and gives a glimpse of his 5 Steps Money Partner Formula. Step number one is to come up with a list of prospective investors, a list of 150 to 200 people. Hit your cell phone, take a look at your contacts, email, Linkedin, and all other profiles, and start making a solid list. Then, reconnect with these people. Before talking business, build a genuine relationship and gradually find out if or not they could be a potential investor. You’ll probably get 30 to 50 replies out of that list you’ve made.   Step number two is to go with a good presentation for when somebody puts up their hand and says, hey, I'm interested, tell me more. Most people aren't super experienced with raising capital as they aren't natural salespeople. So having a really good, well structured, well-laid out, attractive slideshow presentation can serve you very well.   Step number three is all about marketing. Dave stresses the importance of constant, consistent communication. Ideally, you want to be reaching out to your list of prospective investors once a week, but at the very least, consistently do it once a month. Keep in mind that the person coming in may not care about real estate investing, but they do like the idea of getting a good return on their money.   Step number four is all about demonstrating your authority and credibility. You only need to be seen as the expert, as an authority in the eyes of those people on your list. Again, keep in mind that the vast majority of those people have never purchased a single revenue property. So, if you even have closed one deal, you're already light years ahead of them. When you're meeting with somebody, even if it's on zoom, and you're talking about money, dress up professionally and show them respect. Dave advises that people speak knowledgeably about your strategy and your market.   Lastly, step number five, once you get a couple of investors on board, it's so much easier to get more of them with effective testimonials and referrals. If your investors are happy with what you're doing for them, if you do it properly, you can get referrals and testimonials from them, which will greatly boost your growth. Dave says that he firmly believes that a good real estate deal is the best way for everyday folks to make an above-average return on the money, backed by a solid, tangible

For today's episode, I'm absolutely thrilled to welcome Jimmy Murray. Jimmy is a millennial house hacker turned corporate dropout, a specialist in flipping 2-4 unit multifamilies, and the Co-Founder of Lyon Property Management Company that operates across Rhode Island and Southern Massachusetts. Jimmy also co-hosts the Cashflow Kings Podcast along with fellow millionaire investor Frank Patalano.   Jimmy opens up and talks about his childhood and that his family had no background in real estate investing. His dad was a contractor, one of the best finish carpenters in New England, he said his dad did not want Jimmy to end up like him. He frequently advised Jimmy to take up some books and start learning and he always insisted that everyone must work smarter, not harder. Jimmy credits his parents with his strong work ethic that was instilled in him from a very young age.   Jimmy went on to get a degree in finance, but his mind was on starting a business to buy multifamily properties. He remembers the dismissal he received when he presented this idea to his father, who thought it was nothing but nonsense. Jimmy was certain that multifamily would help set him up financially, and when he finally did buy one, his dad told Jimmy that he had made the biggest mistake of his life. He conveys the idea that even though parents are acting out of their love and are simply trying to protect you, you can be set back by their opinions, especially if it concerns a topic they are not aware of. Jimmy stresses how important it is to realize that you need to continue to follow what's important for you and educate yourself. Jimmy claims that anyone capable of elementary mathematics could get into investing in multifamily properties.   Initially, Jimmy says his goal was to make it to Wall Street, make a ton of money, and eventually get into real estate. Jimmy then landed a dream job with a huge private firm after graduation, only to realize that it was not his dream job. The job definitely set him up financially, though, and made him capable of venturing into the real estate world.   On starting a company of his own after quitting the corporate job, Jimmy shares that it can be a struggle to focus on the right things. There are some things that naturally we like to do and we really need to have this self-awareness. There are other things that we don't want to do, so for those tasks, Jimmy recommends hiring people as quickly as possible. Along the way, it is helpful to make a list of the things you most enjoy and the things you least enjoy, so you can hire appropriately and start to pivot as you grow your company.    Jimmy said the biggest thing is actually making the jump. People always hold themselves back, thinking about hitting rock bottom. But the truth is, if you really screw up and you hit that rock bottom, you can always rebuild, and you just gotta figure it out, and you gotta be willing to put in the work. Being successful is really about having the right systems in place and recognizing what's really important that you need to jump on right away. Jimmy stresses that real estate is a relationship-based business and it is very important to network and build strong relationships with your tenants and contractors.   We talk about his podcast, Cashflow Kings, and Jimmy shares the goal has never been to monetize the podcast, but use it as a way to give back and educate other investors. Jimmy lets us know that financial freedom is a massive thing for him. Having financial freedom over your time and assets is huge. He says it is easy to become a millionaire in the stock market, but it's much more exciting for him to leverage his retirement assets to invest in real estate.   His thing is to just wake up every day and take action. He recalls listening to a guest on the podcast who said that massive actions equals massive results. And that's one of the things he puts to work every single day, go out, take action, and you're going to learn a tremendous amount. That's what's really going to fuel your growth.    You do not want to miss this fantastic episode of the Just Start Real Estate Podcast that is packed with actionable advice! Just a ton of truth bombs to learn from in this engaging and educational conversation with Jimmy Murray! Notable quotes:   “If you can add, subtract, and divide, you can buy multifamily.” Jimmy Murray   “Now that I know what I know, I would have tried to leverage everything to the hills to really grow the portfolio to gain that momentum.” Jimmy Murray   “If I could go back and talk to my 2008 self, I'd go, dude, you need to figure it out, raise money, buy properties, and build a portfolio.” Mike Simmons   “My whole life is guided by the books that I read to shape my mind.” Jimmy Murray   “My advice would be to lean on other people that have had that experience. Ask them what the feeling was, what was the big thing that got them over th

For today’s episode, I’m excited to welcome real estate investor, developer, and founder of LiveFree Investments, Logan Freeman. He has found his niche in the industry acting as an investment property specialist, actually representing buyers instead of sellers in the transaction process. Completing over 120 transactions in less than a year, Logan relies on his established processes and priorities to guide his profit-producing activities. He continually invests in himself so that he can provide great value to his investors, making sure to pivot and listen to what the market is providing. Logan is also the host of the LiveFree Investors Podcast where he interviews business owners and investors from around the country.    Logan first shares his background story with us. He finds his home town to have more of a fixed mindset and says he’s always had a growth mindset. He believes this fixed mindset was ingrained in him because of two reasons, which he is still reflecting on. His mother worked two jobs to provide for their family. And that was one reason he thinks that even though she's not really a growth mindset type of person, she did what she had to do. And then the second one is that his dad, from an early age, instilled in him the feeling that you can do whatever you want to, but you have to set your mind to it.   Logan talks about the menial jobs he had when he was a teenager and the lessons they taught him. He also talks about the role that playing sports had in his life. He had the awesome opportunity to play football both in college and in the NFL, and he shared the difficulties related to this, but also how it shaped who he would become. In the course of a six month period, he got cut from the NFL, was no longer an athlete and had to find his identity, lost 120 pounds, went back to school while working full-time, and he lost his father after a long battle with drug and alcohol addiction. It was a very tumultuous period for Logan, but really formed his journey forward.   Logan shares how he completed his first live-in flip in 2013. He discusses the different ways he found the money to finance his real estate deals and how he expanded into the multifamily market. Logan also discusses more creative financing options such as a Delaware Statutory Trust Structure (DST). We also talked about affordable housing and how Logan uses it for his business.    Logan takes the time to explain the concept of syndication to our listeners. Logan’s favorite book on this topic is Principles of Real Estate Syndication by Samuel K. Freshman. He calls it “the textbook for syndication” and he tells us how it helped him immensely in building the sector of his business. Logan talks about the different ways that his company, Live Free Investments, works with investors in the Kansas City area. They act as a broker with their clients, placing the tenants, managing the property, and providing visibility into any rehab work that needs to be done. They also are involved in equity syndications, sourcing investment opportunities to investors which allow them to be part of an asset class they may not have otherwise been able to invest in.   Don’t miss this incredibly honest and informative conversation with businessman and podcaster, Logan Freeman! Make today the day you become a faithful listener of the Just Start Real Estate Podcast as we provide you with insight into actionable real estate investing and business development wisdom! Notable Quotes:   “What I learned as I was going through collegiate sports was that you get to affect your results and you are impacted by the decisions and the choices that you make.” Logan Freeman   “I'm a big believer that I can't sell or be a part of something I don't believe in.” Logan Freeman   “There are certain types of investors and there's a big difference between active and passive investors.” Logan Freeman   “I created what I call a capital raising machine. It all starts with reputation, leadership, and visibility. ” Logan Freeman   “I have built a massive following of over 10.5K people on LinkedIn that engage with me on a regular basis.” Logan Freeman   “It's my job as a real estate broker to build relationships with sellers.” Logan Freeman   “People want to understand who you are. People invest in a person, not necessarily a brand unless you are Apple or something.” Logan Freeman Links: Logan’s Website  Logan’s Instagram Logan’s Twitter  Logan’s LinkedIn  Logan’s Facebook  Principles of Real Estate Syndication 7 Figure Flipping Return on Investments Just Start Real Estate JSRE on Facebook Mike on Facebook Mike on Instagram Mike on LinkedIn Mike on Twitter Level Jumping: How I Grew My Business to Over $1 Million in Profits in 12 Months  

I'm excited to welcome fellow real estate investor, Aaron Chapman for today's episode. Aaron is a successful branch manager at SecurityNational Mortgage Company, a veteran in the finance industry since 1997, a real estate entrepreneur, and a popular podcast guest. He is also the author of four books and dozens of magazine articles. Join us on the show today as we discuss the incredibly inspiring journey Aaron has taken in life, as he shares the hard work and determination that went into starting and growing his successful business.    Aaron shares how he had spent his high school years on a cattle ranch where he learned basic business methodology. He left high school halfway through his senior year and went to work in mining and oil fields, ran heavy equipment, and drove a truck. He recollects the opportunity to be 700 feet underground, drilling and blasting and playing with explosives and says he loved it! He enjoyed the toughness that the role offered him.   Aaron was referred to the real estate industry by someone he just ran into and, since then, has never stepped back. Though his initial days were hard, and he barely got one deal a month, he stuck with it. He explains that he took a job as a telemarketer during this time to help pay the bills. He absolutely despised this job, but it taught him the art of the sale. Aaron also learned that communication and conversation can really help you succeed in business.   Aaron explained that he worked in many different jobs and really struggled as he tried to make real estate investing work. He worked in long haul trucking and as an equipment operator, working very long hours and sleeping very little, but he was committed to finding a way to make investing work for him. The real turnaround happened for him at the end of 2018 and from there, it was an incredible journey forward. He now has a group of 30 employees, closed 145 transactions last month, over 1,100 so far in 2020, and is on track to do 200 transactions a month soon.   Aaron takes the time today to talk about how inflation is a crucial factor that determines your cash flow and how you can make the best out of changing times. For instance, he has seen as much as a 17% decline in rents just during the COVID situation and it is vital for an investor to be able to pivot based on the current market. Aaron and I do some math to get you an idea of how things work in practice. He also shares why real estate investors these days fail and strategies they need to look into. Aaron stresses the importance of being creative and always analyzing the deal before jumping in.   Aaron also shares about his other interests. He really enjoys sharing videos on his YouTube channel in order to share information and help others. Writing his books has been very gratifying and he hopes to be helpful as well to others through this medium. He also shares his love for going outdoors. He loves hunting, fishing, and hiking.   I absolutely loved this conversation with Aaron today, for the wealth of knowledge that he shares on various topics and the amazing life he has made out for himself. Do not miss this awesome episode of the Just Start Real Estate Podcast with successful author and businessman, Aaron Chapman! Notable Quotes:   “Good judgment comes from experience and experience comes from bad judgment.” Aaron Chapman   “I just want to produce, I want to talk to investors, I just want to help them become successful in their investments. ” Aaron Chapman   “I found that if you try to be everything to everyone, you become nothing to no one. ” Aaron Chapman   “The biggest thing I have noticed is that new investors are initially focused in the wrong direction. They go at it from a consumer’s perspective, like they're spending money and going into debt.” Aaron Chapman   “I tell investors to look at me as not just a lender. We close loans. But I'm also here to give you things to consider from a financial perspective, as you're making decisions about your business.” Aaron Chapman   “Be patient, be deliberate, take the time to understand what you're getting into, and look at it from a CEO perspective. ” Aaron Chapman   “I am violently opposed to failure. And because of that, I am very, very interested in ensuring the success of those I work with.” Aaron Chapman Links: Aaron Chapman Facebook  Aaron Chapman Instagram Aaron Chapman LinkedIn  7 Figure Flipping Return on Investments Just Start Real Estate JSRE on Facebook Mike on Facebook Mike on Instagram Mike on LinkedIn Mike on Twitter Level Jumping: How I Grew My Business to Over $1 Million in Profits in 12 Months

Today, I am very excited to interview Mario Fachini, who is the Founder and CEO of Mario Fachini Consulting and is a sought-after motivational speaker, author, and marketing trainer. He is also the Founder and CEO of Freedom Platform Wordpress Website Builder, and the popular podcast host of The Expert Authority Effect Interviews. Mario helps to educate other marketers through coaching and training on how to start up successful marketing companies of their own and attract clients by using systems and leverage. Mario discusses the numerous advantages of publishing your own book, entrepreneurship and how to become successful at it, and why you should always strive to be the best at your field of business.   Mario first shares his thoughts on whether entrepreneurs are born or made. He says it's a personal choice. Mario shares his background story and explains how he's done all he could to make money, including power-washing, painting, lawn maintenance, and care, all since the age of twelve years old. Mario's parents gave him the freedom to do whatever he wanted as long as he paid for it. That has helped him always strive for more and enjoy great success in both his business and personal life.   Mario then talks about his continually changing dreams and ambitions in life. He initially wanted to be a doctor when in grade school, an FBI or CIA agent in middle school, and in high school, he wanted to become a lawyer. Mario discusses how college was the denial stage for him. At twenty-five years old, after becoming a lawyer, he continues to explore different projects such as producing commercials, music videos, and video content for people as part of their marketing strategy.    Mario says you get to choose what you want and whom you want to attract. He makes us realize that there are endless things we can do in life if we wish to. He shares why publishing a book is way easier than doing a podcast and is more effective than printing business cards to share with clients. People want to know the real you so that they can connect with you and writing a book is perhaps the most effective way of doing that.   We discuss why it is imperative to strive to be an expert at what you're doing. It is important to surround yourself with people who are further along in their business journey so that you have them to look to as role models and have something to strive toward. Continuously expanding and refining your knowledge is essential to growing your business!   We also dive deeper into marketing and promotion and learn why it is paramount for scaling your business. Mario discusses the kind of books he has written, such as business books, specific nonfiction books, and business books distinct to help people with generating profit, finding leads, networking, and growing their businesses.   Don’t miss this super interesting conversation with marketing expert, Mario Fachini! The Just Start Real Estate Podcast continues to deliver excellent content to help all of its listeners start, grow, and scale their businesses in order to achieve financial freedom… join us today! Notable Quotes:   “There's something you have that you can lead with right now in marketing. You don't need to do anything else or refine it - just lead with what you have and grow and enjoy the journey over the next six to twelve months.” Mario Fachini   “I was turning everyone into clients because it was easy. And I knew they wanted to be on this ride.” Mario Fachini   “You get to choose what you want and who you want to attract.” Mario Fachini   “But the whole ‘should I get a job or start a company’ thing? I think that is a very personal choice.” Mario Fachini   “For every minute someone puts into marketing, it's going to amplify it at least 10 times over. ” Mario Fachini   “Everyone has business cards, anyone can talk a good game, but not many people put the time and effort into whatever they are passionate about.” Mike Simmons   “People don't want to do business with corporations and entities. They want to do it with people. Show them your person.” Mario Fachini   “I don't think any of us have a problem being critical of ourselves.” Mario Fachini   “The point is, you get to choose what you want and who you want to attract.“ Mario Fachini   “On the business aside, it's like, ‘what are we doing here?’ It is important to serve and be in community with each other. “ Mario Fachini Links: Mario’s Website Mario’s LinkedIn Free Gift Link 7 Figure Flipping Return on Investments Just Start Real Estate JSRE on Facebook Mike on Facebook Mike on Instagram Mike on LinkedIn Mike on Twitter Level Jumping: How I Grew My Business to Over $1 Million in Profits in 12 Months

For today's episode, I'm excited to welcome engineer turned real estate investor, Jacob Ayers. Jacob is the managing partner of Ayers Acquisitions and host of The Real Estate Way to Wealth and Freedom Podcast. He started buying real estate in 2015 and has grown his portfolio with multifamily properties. He joins us today to discuss his fantastic journey in real estate while he continues to work his full-time engineering job.   First, he shares his background story with us and how he got the “stable, corporate job” mentality from his parents like so many of us do. His parents were entrepreneurs, but they considered themselves lower to middle class and wanted Jacob to have an excellent, long-term, meaningful corporate job.   Jacob shares with us the reasons he decided to start investing in real estate. He says that he did not find any milestones to complete while working on his full-time job and wanted to make more out of life. He could only see retirement looming far down the road of his life and had a deep desire to do something more.   Jacob also talks about his interest in houses and how his engineering mind always wanted to fix and feel things, drawing him into the industry. He decided to take the risk and invest in it. Jacob bought his first rental property in July of 2015, which was a single-family home in his home market of Oklahoma. Jacob shares the details of the purchase, how he financed the deal, and the specific costs and how much he was able to rent it for.   Jacob then discusses the financial sources he uses to help himself in the business. He generally uses traditional financing routes, either the conventional Fannie or Freddie loans or local lenders with portfolio loans. We also discuss how to find the right marketing channels for your business. Jacob says he uses local Facebook pages while explaining how it has worked for him in the long run.   We get to know the quick check filters Jacob uses to decide whether or not you want to dive deeper into a property. Jacob investigates what type of property it is, its rent-to-value ratio, and whether there are any value-add opportunities in the property.   Toward the end of the interview, we learn about Jacob's favorite podcasts and why he chooses them over certain others. He really loves the Get Rich Education podcast by Keith Weinhold and suggests that all the listeners should check it out.   Join us for this power-packed conversation with the very knowledgeable and ambitious engineer-investor, Jacob Ayers. Do not miss out on this awesome episode of the Just Start Real Estate Podcast! Notable Quotes:   “I was born and raised with this blueprint: Go to school, get good grades, so you can get into college, study something hard, so you can get a good, stable day job.” Jacob Ayers   “I started going down this rabbit hole of personal finance, and I just found myself naturally drawn to real estate investing.” Jacob Ayers   “Over time, I found myself becoming more entrepreneurial, trying to build up a real estate portfolio and strive to be that full-time entrepreneur.” Jacob Ayers   “I'm not one of those guys who just is absolutely miserable at work and hates my day job. I got into this because I like it and I've got that engineering mind.” Jacob Ayers   “If we look at our schedule and look at what we're spending time on, I guarantee we are all wasting a lot of time.” Jacob Ayers   “Being comfortable is a very easy place to be in, but you're not going to grow being in that place. That's where I think a lot of people find themselves.” Jacob Ayers   “I think sometimes people are born entrepreneurs, but they're not put in the right environment, they're not given the right stimulus for it to come out.” Mike Simmons   “I've got a pretty good way of just breaking things down step by step, tackling things one day at a time, one most important next step at a time” Jacob Ayers   “I see myself in three to five years really growing and scaling this to a significant size, achieving financial freedom, building wealth along the way, and living life on my own terms.“ Jacob Ayers Links: Jacob’s Website Jacob’s Podcast Get Rich Education Podcast 7 Figure Flipping Return on Investments Just Start Real Estate JSRE on Facebook Mike on Facebook Mike on Instagram Mike on LinkedIn Mike on Twitter Level Jumping: How I Grew My Business to Over $1 Million in Profits in 12 Months

For this episode, I am happy to welcome real-estate investor and multi-family syndicator, Ola Dantis. Ola is also the host of the Dwellynn Podcast, with which he unpacks real estate investing strategies and helps people start or continue their journey toward financial freedom.   First, Ola shares his background story with us. He shares how his real estate business started with an invite from one of his friends who wanted him to join his company. Since then, there has been no stepping back. As Ola realized the opportunities and financial liberty this profession gave him, he dove deeper to explore every possibility that could be.   Ola shares how he achieved the success he has today and how it all started with the book Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki. He also shares how he financed his first deal. Ola talks about his experience dealing with contractors and why it hasn’t mostly been a very good experience for him. He used to visit the site he undertook almost every day, and this was not very welcome to the contractors he dealt with.    Related to this, I talked about why it is good that you keep an eye on the work that is going on at a site because that is when you realize the littlest things you could save on or could be saved from being misled on. Ola also talks about transitioning his business to making bigger and bigger deals and how he mastered the skills needed to soar in the industry.   Ola also discusses the importance of having a good partnership. The quickest way that helped him scale his business well was understanding his business partners. He also shares the massive role of a mentor in shaping your career for the good and why investing on that end would always benefit you in the long run.   One other key point of discussion is the importance of branding in growing and expanding your business and how you can put that into practice. Ola says branding has a crucial role in his business and shares how he uses social media platforms like Instagram to engage with the audience and get his brand to rank high in the search results and feed. He shares his research and the results of social media algorithms and using them to your advantage and why putting out five Instagram stories a day can massively help you in that.   Join in the conversation today as successful investor Ola Dantis shares his wealth of experience with you in order to help you succeed in your real estate business. You don’t want to miss this fantastic episode of the Just Start Real Estate Podcast! Notable Quotes:   “Success never comes in a golden box with a red ribbon around it.” Ola Dantis   “So I did fantastically well with this duplex and I was like, I think I should do more of this.” Ola Dantis   “You have to be obsessive to be successful.” Ola Dantis   “I did not have the temperament. I was a perfectionist. I was always on site every day.” Ola Dantis   “I always tell people err on the side of being on the jobsite too much. Even if you go and you're kind of in their way and you annoy them, at least it's not costing you a lot of money because they're doing something you didn't want them to do.” Mike Simmons   “In life, there's always a price to pay. And there is never a discount.” Ola Dantis   “You have to really understand what position you are exuding.” Ola Dantis   “For me, branding is everything, like we try to be as ubiquitous as we can. You go on social media, you can't miss me, we're pretty out there.” Ola Dantis Links: Ola's Website Ola’s Multifamily Tribe Ola’s Instagram Rich Dad Poor Dad 7 Figure Flipping Return on Investments Just Start Real Estate JSRE on Facebook Mike on Facebook Mike on Instagram Mike on LinkedIn Mike on Twitter Level Jumping: How I Grew My Business to Over $1 Million in Profits in 12 Months

Today, I am super excited to welcome lifestyle entrepreneur, author, and real estate investor Ali Boone to the show. After leaving her 9-to-5 corporate job to pursue ultimate freedom through entrepreneurship, her company Hipster Investments managed to facilitate over $18M in real estate transactions in its first five years of business. She has Master’s degrees in both Aerospace Engineering and Spiritual Psychology. Ali also teaches flying and can often be found snowboarding or volunteering in prisons.   We start off as we always do with Ali sharing her background with us. She said she initially wanted to study to be a pilot because of the influence of her family, but ended up in aerospace engineering. After earning her advanced degree, she shared that on her very first day of work, upon walking into her cubicle, she realized she did not want to work in the corporate world. She wasn’t sure what she wanted to do and took the next five years reading everything she could get her hands on. Ali eventually started investing in real estate for personal wealth growth and turned it into the venture that would get her out of her corporate job, which she left in 2012. Ali started her own company named Hipster Investments that deals in mostly turnkey rental properties.   Because of my research into Ali, I knew that she had a Spiritual Psychology degree in addition to her technical degrees and I wanted her to explain how she ended up pursuing that. She said she actually started the program because she thought it would be hilarious to tell people she has such diverse degrees, but it ended up being the biggest game-changer of her life. Because it involves an aspect of psychology, she can apply the principles to every aspect of her work and life.   Then we dove into the specifics of Ali’s real estate adventures. She first tried to invest in a deal in Nicaragua that didn’t end up being successful, but then turned to the burgeoning Atlanta market. I asked specifically why she chose turnkey rentals in lieu of other strategies like flipping houses. She said it wasn’t as though she couldn’t learn and be good at putting a lot of work into properties to rehab them, but she wasn’t passionate about it. She got out of the corporate world to have the freedom and flexibility to do what she loves, not to make more work for herself. We discuss a lot of the pros and cons of turnkey rental investing and some of the difficult situations we have both found ourselves in with this strategy.   I then asked Ali to explain the services that Hipster Investments provides. She said they are basically a referral service because when she first started investing in turnkey rentals, everyone she knew wanted to learn more about what she was doing. Ali ended up writing articles about turnkeys for BiggerPockets and this led to so many people asking her for advice, her company ended up being a “glorified matchmaker” between investors and the providers she could recommend for this investing strategy. Ali also feels very rewarded by staying on to help support the investors who she consults with. She also explained her process for analyzing and vetting new turnkey providers for her clients.   I then asked Ali to tell us about her first book, NOT Your How-To Guide to Real Estate Investing: Life Lessons on Hacking Your Mind Before You Hack Your Wallet. She said that she had started several books but had no interest in learning how to go about publishing a book, so she was constantly getting stalled in this process. But with the coronavirus lockdowns, she had no excuses left and it really provided her with the time and space that she needed to finally get her book completed and published. Ali explains that she really wanted to focus on the self-examination a person needs to make before jumping into real estate investing so that they know their strengths and weaknesses and what strategy might work the best for them.   Because Ali is all about lifestyle, we wrapped up with her telling us about the lifestyle she is cultivating and how she spends her days. We discuss how important it is to find what really brings you joy and take advantage of the freedom provided by being in business for yourself. You really don’t want to miss this episode of Just Start Real Estate… Ali and I just have a blast! She provides us with so much wisdom and actionable advice in a completely laid-back and fun manner so be sure to take the time to listen and learn from this fantastic guest, Ali Boone! Notable quotes:   “After nine years of school, I didn’t even sit down in my cubicle before I realized I wanted out of my corporate job.” Ali Boone   “If you ask me to make a spreadsheet, stand back. I love a good spreadsheet.” Ali Boone   “If I am going to leave corporate, I need to be able to say I actually tried to make it work.” Ali Boone   “I was doing the coolest of the cool and it really was a dream job, it just wasn’t my dream job.” Ali Bo

Today we are joined by real estate entrepreneur, business owner, and author, Eric Martel. While seeking mentorship from a professor at his university, Eric began building his empire from the age of eighteen years old by purchasing an 8-unit apartment building as his first property. After graduation, in his position as an actuary, he was dismayed to see hundreds of company pension plans being rolled over into 401(k)s, shifting the retirement risk to employees. This made him reconsider traditional beliefs about saving for retirement. Eric worked in the technology field up until the dotcom crash when he began to focus on ways to create passive income to achieve financial freedom.   As usual, we start by having our guest share how they came to real estate investing. After testing out numerous markets, the idea of flipping houses came to Eric through one of his sons so, from that point on, their real estate investing ventures began. Eric shares a lot of the challenges of getting started in investing, going out of state to invest in turnkey rentals, and the strategies he uses to find houses to buy.   We talked quite a bit about building a strong team, working effectively with others, and Eric made several suggestions about tools to use when working with remote teams. Eric also shares the rewards and challenges of working with family members in running their company MartelTurnkey, which services investors by helping them acquire rental properties in strong economic markets across the country.   I wanted Eric to talk about his new book, Stop Trading Your Time for Money: A How-To Guide for the Middle Class to Achieve Financial Freedom, Early Retirement, and Provide a Legacy for Future Generations. Eric is passionate about teaching people that passive income is the key to a stress-free lifestyle and true freedom. He is also interested in helping people build a legacy for their own families by breaking through the barriers they may encounter in getting started in this business.   I asked Eric to talk about his podcast, Break Away from the Rat Race, which focuses on interviewing other entrepreneurs to find out how they are investing and generating passive income streams. Not only does he do shows where he answers specific investing and business-oriented questions, but he has also had the opportunity to host some excellent entrepreneurial guests! Be sure to check it out by following the link below.   If you are interested in being truly financially free and working toward the life you dream of, you will not want to miss this awesome episode of the Just Start Real Estate Podcast with successful real estate entrepreneur, Eric Martel! Quotes:   “The key is taking action. It doesn’t mean you have to take risk but there’s only so much you can do pre-investment.” Eric Martel   “You’re #1 goal in life should be to achieve financial freedom.” Eric Martel   “I like that you are data-driven and not giving us emotional answers to real estate investing questions.” Mike Simmons   “The turn key model you have is just phenomenal.” Mike Simmons Links:   MartelTurnkey Investor List  Break Away from the Rat Race Podcast Stop Trading Your Time for Money: A How-To Guide for the Middle Class to Achieve Financial Freedom, Early Retirement, and Provide a Legacy for Future Generations 7 Figure Flipping Return on Investments Just Start Real Estate JSRE on Facebook Mike on Facebook Mike on Instagram Mike on LinkedIn Mike on Twitter Level Jumping: How I Grew My Business to Over $1 Million in Profits in 12 Months

For this episode, I welcome fellow real estate investor, Mark Khuri. Mark is the co-founder of SMK Capital Management, which is an investment firm that provides investors with passive income and growth through the creation of partnerships in private commercial real estate opportunities. He has been an avid real estate investor for over 15 years and has sourced, underwritten, acquired, raised capital, renovated, managed, and sold both residential and commercial real estate investments throughout multiple markets in the US. Over the last decade, Mark and the affiliates of his company have invested in over forty-five commercial real estate opportunities across numerous asset classes including mobile home parks, self-storage facilities, multifamily communities, retail shopping centers, and much more.    Mark first shares his life before he got into real estate and the progression to when he quit corporate life and started investing full-time. Mark says that it was a difficult time but he began by partnering with his family members, buying properties that were very deeply discounted, and renovated them. Mark felt like there was a lot more that they could still do, so he and his father decided to partner together and create their own firm.   I asked Mark if he still does any single-family home investing or are they now focused on different aspects of the market. Mark says he still has a small portfolio of SFH rentals, primarily in the midwest, but it is hard to scale a business in that segment of the market so they began to focus more on commercial investments.    Mark shares how they evolved into other asset classes fairly organically. In 2012, they invested in a mobile-home park fund passively by giving up control of the day-to-day operations. Mark discussed how he keeps organized and makes sure he isn’t getting taken advantage of while working in multiple markets. He said that there’s a lot of quality control that they put in place along with different phases of the investment timeline.   We discussed in detail the types of investment classes that Mark really enjoys as his company has diversified in so many areas. Mark explained how they offer different types of deals, or conglomerations of different properties, to their investors. We then talked about the impact of the pandemic on the real estate market and how their company will perform in the coming months if we do hit some sort of a recession or a serious downturn in the market. Mark said that it is important to be sustainable and consistent, to keep occupancy up, and provide good services for the community.   Mark shares all of the different markets that his company is invested in and some of his favorites for investing. He advises that there are many strategies to becoming a successful real estate investor, but everything always came down to surrounding yourself with the right people. You have to build relationships, evaluate the qualities of your partners and the people that have helped you along the way. Mark recommended hiring slowly when you are building your team and getting to know the people you’re working with to make sure they are of similar mind and share your goals.   In this great episode, we discuss value-add investing, deal analysis and underwriting, investment structure, and so much more! You won’t want to miss this installment of the Just Start Real Estate Podcast with the diverse and phenomenally-successful investor, Mark Khouri! Notable Quotes:   “I learned along the way that climbing the corporate ladder wasn’t for me.” Mark Khuri   “If you have a property with good access to transit and jobs, and you are a good landlord and take good care of your residence, you’ve got a very good recipe for success.” Mark Khuri   “You really need to create that community feel so that people are happy to live there.” Mark Khuri   “At the end of the day, you can have the nicest property in the best part of town. But if you have the wrong people, you’re going to lose money every day.” Mark Khuri   “If you have to build your own team, hire slow.” Mark Khuri   “People first.” Mark Khuri Links: SMK Capital Investment 7 Figure Flipping Return on Investments Just Start Real Estate JSRE on Facebook Mike on Facebook Mike on Instagram Mike on LinkedIn Mike on Twitter Level Jumping: How I Grew My Business to Over $1 Million in Profits in 12 Months

For this episode, I am excited to interview Cory Nemoto. Cory is the co-owner & founder of KECO Capital. He began his real estate investing career in 2011 in Southern California while in college. After graduating, Cory moved back to Hawaii, where he currently manages his business. Cory has been involved in multiple investment deals ranging from relocation, renovation, and new home development projects. He has also been featured on multiple nationally-renowned investment podcasts, as well as a guest speaker at several local real estate meetings.   Cory first shares his background story and how he initially got into real estate investing. He talks about how he got interested in business towards the later part of his degree. Cory thinks that he always has the entrepreneurial spirit and just didn't know where it would take him. We discussed the question if entrepreneurs are born or made. Cory thinks that many people are born to be entrepreneurs, but they just need the right environment or the right circumstances to bring it out of them.   We talk about Cory’s perspective of the real estate market over the next twelve to eighteen months. The market is in such an interesting position right now, being white-hot because of the low inventory and low-interest rates. Cory says that they are optimistic now, but in the practical mindset where their company is preparing for the worst and hoping for the best.    Cory talks about the mission of his company, KECO Capital. He and his partner had borrowed millions of dollars themselves for investing across markets and saw a huge need in the marketplace to provide affordable capital to other investors. They have a passion to serve new and seasoned investors with not only financing for their deals, but also practical guidance, trusted advice, and genuine encouragement and support. They understand the critical role they can play in helping other investors to scale their businesses to provide more jobs, great housing, and stimulate local economies. We discussed at length how their process works and how it is dealing with other investors.   We talked about the strategies that Cory utilizes to keep his pipeline full. According to Cory, the basic key to deal flow is establishing great relationships. We discuss the reasons why people might not want to get into real estate investing. Cory points out the need to have the stamina to keep going and have perseverance through difficulties in order to be successful in this business. We talk about the level of risk-taking that investors need and how to evaluate how much risk each person can bear because it is subjective.   This fantastic episode with Cory Nemoto is filled with actionable advice and great investing insight so don’t miss this installment of the Just Start Real Estate Podcast! Notable Quotes:   “It didn’t seem like a good business plan to work a corporate job, save for retirement, and just pray I would have enough to last.” Cory Nemoto   “I felt lazy and a little bit ashamed to have the feeling that I didn’t want to work forever.” Cory Nemoto   “I was on the corporate track for many years and had no interest in starting my own business. But when I did, I was like ‘Woah. This feels right.’” Mike Simmons   “I always say that it's best to figure out what value you can offer in order to start networking and building relationships.” Cory Nemoto   “You want to build genuine, mutually-beneficial, lifelong relationships with people.” Cory Nemoto   “I think the true goal is to find financial freedom so you can build a nice piggy bank and explore other opportunities.” Cory Nemoto Links: Rich Dad Poor Dad KECO Capital KECO Capital on Instagram Cory on Instagram Cory on Facebook 7 Figure Flipping Return on Investments Just Start Real Estate JSRE on Facebook Mike on Facebook Mike on Instagram Mike on LinkedIn Mike on Twitter Level Jumping: How I Grew My Business to Over $1 Million in Profits in 12 Months

For today’s episode, I’m excited to welcome Garrett Sutton. Garrett has practiced corporate law for more than 35 years and he assists entrepreneurs and real estate investors in maximizing goals and protecting their assets. As a veteran author, Garrett is a highly-sought guest speaker. He is a member of the elite group of “Rich Dad Advisors” for the best-selling author, Robert Kiyosaki. Garrett has authored several successful books for business owners including Loopholes of Real Estate and Scam Proof your Assets.   Garrett first shares his background story and how he was able to work as part of the advisor team for Robert Kiyosaki. He found that he was passionate about using his education and business knowledge to help others start and grow their own endeavors.   We then moved on to the importance of having a great team supporting you. It is important to have a good lawyer who can assist you in the legal aspect of business decisions and a CPA for advice on an intelligent and efficient manner of handling your finances. Garrett then explained further that whatever CPA you select needs to be conversant on real estate issues.   We discussed the business details that people tend to overlook the most. Garrett spoke in great detail about the necessity of starting an LLC and how easy it is to forget the ongoing requirements of maintaining your asset protection. He believes that those are the two key things that people need to consider prior to starting and building their business.   Together we dove into how you can be efficient and organized if you have an early start in real estate. Garrett shared details on how you can use pre-tax dollars for investing and many other pieces of legal advice useful to business owners. We also talked about how you can utilize a personal residence trust to your advantage. He discussed the different situations in multiple states and how you can use an LLC to protect your personal residence.   Lastly, we discussed the deceptions over the internet and how prevalent con artists and real estate scams are. Garrett believed that as people are inundated with a massive amount of misrepresentation and fraudulent behavior, the government should step up to prevent these people from getting away scot-free and that the victims should not be penalized.   Don’t miss out on this important episode of Just Start Real Estate, which provides vital business advice from our super-relatable advisor and guest, Garrett Sutton! Notable Quotes: “As a mid-to-early 40-year-old guy, I didn't know what was going on in my finances.” Mike Simmons   “It's great that people like you are doing these podcasts because this is our high school and college education on these important issues.” Garrett Sutton   “It's really important to get your team on board and come up with the best strategy.” Garrett Sutton   “If you don't know the subject matter really well, it can come across cross flat because they don't know where to put the emphasis.” Mike Simmons   “Most people don't even know how much they're putting out there and how at-risk they are.” Mike Simmons Links: Garret’s Website Garret’s Sutton’s Books 7 Figure Flipping Return on Investments Just Start Real Estate JSRE on Facebook Mike on Facebook Mike on Instagram Mike on LinkedIn Mike on Twitter Level Jumping: How I Grew My Business to Over $1 Million in Profits in 12 Months

For today’s episode, I am excited to interview Brett Snodgrass. Brett has been in the real estate industry for 13 years and he specializes in wholesaling, wholetailing, and creative financing. Originally a one-man army, he scaled his business, Simple Wholesaling, to an amazing, full team running hundreds of deals per year. Brett is also the popular podcast host of Real Estate Investing with a Purpose. He is a highly-sought-after speaker who has been given key presentations on a wide range of topics such as scaling businesses to developing a purpose behind the business. As we have been in real estate investing for about the same amount of time, I was excited to dive into his story and how he built his legacy.   Brett first shared his background story and how a book allowed him to change his view and get him interested in the real-estate business industry. He shared further along in the interview where he closed his first deal and you will be shocked at where he sold it! We discussed his dad’s advice that he will never forget and how it was able to assist him in his business.   We then dove into Brett’s transition to full-time real estate investing. We discussed how 2008 was the worst market in history and how he was still able to close deals even when many people disagreed with what he was doing. He was able to persevere even though he was not terribly experienced and he made it a monumental year for his business.   We discussed how his dad joined his business, the breaking point of trying to run the business themselves and how they started to scale. Brett shared how he started to build his business by making 200-300 offers a month which resulted in closing about 10 of them which totally got the money flowing!   We talked about Brett’s philosophy which is to find the cheapest property in the market and believe that someone is going to buy it regardless of the location. Using this strategy, he was able to buy thousands of properties and generate profits of thousands of dollars for each. Regardless of the low numbers, they were able to realize good profit margins and continue to grow their business.   We then moved on to Brett’s difficulty in finding deals and dealing with realtors. Through these struggles, and considering how rough the real estate industry was in 2008, Brett decided to get his license in order to increase productivity and decrease expenses.    Lastly, we discussed how doing real estate deals is not exciting for Brett anymore. He found himself bored in meetings and would ask himself what should he be doing and what his real purpose in life is. He shared how wanted to explore other avenues and opportunities and find excitement in his day-to-day work again.   Don’t miss this information-packed episode of Just Start Real Estate to learn more about the investing journey of popular podcaster and entrepreneur, Brett Snodgrass! Notable Quotes:   “I use a lot of sports terms because sports really helped me.” Brett Snodgrass   “What are you going to do? Are you going to get better or are you going to get worse? It's your choice.” Brett Snodgrass   “We're always thinking about how we can adjust if the market starts to shift.” Brett Snodgrass   “I love just kind of picking people's brains and really digging into their hearts.” Brett Snodgrass   “I think there are different seasons in life.” Brett Snodgrass   “You can walk away too early, you can walk away too fast, you can walk away without the right team in place.” Mike Simmons Links: Brett’s Website Real Estate Investing with a Purpose Podcast 7 Figure Flipping Return on Investments Just Start Real Estate JSRE on Facebook Mike on Facebook Mike on Instagram Mike on LinkedIn Mike on Twitter Level Jumping: How I Grew My Business to Over $1 Million in Profits in 12 Months

For today’s episode, I gladly welcome Matthew Pollard, an internationally-recognized consultant, speaker, blogger, author, mentor, coach, serial entrepreneur, and the Founder and CEO of Rapid Growth, LLC, a company dedicated to achieving maximum ROI for businesses of all sizes. Matthew is also the host of the popular podcast The Introvert’s Edge and the author of the book of the same name.   Matthew has had to battle challenging personal and professional hurdles before realizing the success he has today. From having a learning disability and being painfully introverted, to being laid off from his first job just weeks before Christmas, he has made remarkable progress to pave the way for success. Being an introvert myself, I am excited by the opportunity to interview someone who resonates with me in multiple ways.   Matthew was born in a small, blue-collar town in Australia called Craigieburn, to a family of miners, sheep shearers, factory workers, seamstresses, and secretaries. He was hindered by a lifelong visual processing disorder, misdiagnosed until his teenage years which left him with the reading level of a sixth-grader, making school a nonstop struggle. Uncertain of what he wanted to do with his life, and exhausted from the effort of finishing school, Matthew decided to postpone university, and instead ended up at the only job he could find, which was commission-only door to door sales.   He landed his first sale after knocking on almost one hundred doors and was ecstatic! Because of his reading limitations, he discovered YouTube and started learning field testing and sales from the videos available. He discusses how he completely immersed himself in learning and often spent 16 hours a day practicing. This eventually led him to become the top salesperson of this company that also boasted the highest volume of sales and marketing in the southern hemisphere!   Matthew then started his own B2B cell phone company, which turned out to be the largest broker of B2B cell phones in the country. He went on to have five multi-million dollar businesses, all before the age of 30. He suggests introverts practice projecting extraversion in lieu of trying to become an extrovert. He says most people struggle to interact with others because it takes a ton more energy and they feel inauthentic when they're doing it. By knowing exactly what you’re going to say, who you’re going to speak to, and what is going to trigger their interest, introverts can manage well in these interactions.   Matthew shares his experience writing his first book and how difficult it was for him with the reading difficulties he had. He also talks about interviewing Tom Ziglar, son of Zig Ziglar, and learning from him how his father had also been an introvert. In discussing his podcast and how it has helped him, Matthew said that if you can't articulate the value of what you provide face to face when someone's politely listening to you, you’re going to have a hard time when you need to do that digitally.   With The Introvert’s Edge Podcast, Matthew provides a step-by-step process by which even the most introverted person can become a sales master, while still remaining authentic. He is on a mission to erase the stigma around introversion and to empower introverts to recognize and leverage their innate strengths and abilities. Matthew believes successful people share a few common traits and that they are all under your control. He said high-achievers have a 100% commitment to their goals, a drive to work hard, an ability to synthesize information and create reliable systems, a mindset of self-belief and a positive outlook, and the attitude of smart risk-taking.   With the incredible success he has created in his life and the unparalleled ways of sharing his practices, Matthew continues to revolutionize and reshape the industry. Do not miss out on this powerful and life-changing interview on the Just Start Real Estate Podcast with uber-successful entrepreneur, Matthew Pollard! Notable quotes:   “I focus on making sure that every introvert out there knows that introversion is really just about how you draw your energy.” Mathew Pollard   “I watched my dad break his back for 80 hours a week to support the family, so there was no way I was going to sit and watch Oprah for the next month or so. So I pulled out the classifieds.” Mathew Pollard   “I'm up for hours before a presentation to make sure I'm ready and rock-solid for that event.” Mathew Pollard   “I'm really focused on helping people realize that they don't need to be extroverted. As a matter of fact, that's a disadvantage.” Mathew Pollard   “Realize that 90% of all success in networking happens before you even walk into the room.“ Mathew Pollard   “When I go to a networking event, I know exactly what I'm going to say, exactly who I'm going to speak to, and exactly what is going to trigger their interest because I've researched it i

For today’s episode, I’m pleased to welcome Bo Kim, who is a real estate investor and popular podcaster. Bo is a buy-and-hold investor who works in the accounting industry in Southern California and also hosts the Bigger Cash Flow Podcast, where he shares the tips and tricks to making it big in the real estate sector. Owning an impressive sixty-three rental units in markets of Kansas City, Indianapolis, and Little Rock, Bo has a wealth of experience in the industry to learn from.   Bo talks about his early life and living in rented houses for most of his childhood. He shares how he was intrigued by their landlord owning four rentals and making a considerable amount of money with those alone. He saved everything he made while in college and was able to start investing soon after graduating. While still less informed about house hacking and the process of renting out an apartment, he managed to rent the extra bedroom of his house to his sister-in-law, after he moved into the newly-bought house with his wife.   Excited at the new passive income source he’d managed to build, he dove into this business for the incredible cash flow it could provide. Bo also shares how losing $10,000 on his first real estate deal helped him learn a great deal about the industry and its functioning. He discusses how starting off, he’d initially made a list of twenty metro cities he liked and went about calling all the turnkey providers, contractors, and agents until he found some people he was excited to work with.   Bo also shares his approach of going about determining which markets are good for him. He considers cash flow, a favorable rent-to-price ratio, population growth, a diverse economy, and suitability for landlords as the prime deciding factors. Bo says that over half of the rentals he owns are single-family properties.   Bo has a business degree in accounting and works currently in the accounting industry. His podcast aims at helping newbie real estate investors take back control of their finances. Bo is also an avid writer on his blog, where he shares tips and tricks on achieving freedom with time, location, and money.   Bo also discusses how he manages all of his units every day. He suggests starting off by having the picture of the end in mind. Bo’s professional goals go beyond just making money, and he chooses to always have in mind the kind of lifestyle he wants to keep and invests in his choices accordingly. He shares how much he targets per door for single and multi-family rentals. Bo explains how he chose his investing strategy and why he invests in rentals and not full-time flipping of houses. He shares that he enjoys his present job and would consider doing other things if he gets tired of doing his job at any time. His aim is to have cash flow without investing a lot of time and energy into the process.   Bo discusses how it was not a seamless process to manage his rentals while working full-time simultaneously. He put in a lot of work, often waking up at 5:00 am to manage calls and working on the weekends to get everything finished. He also talks about finding the perfect balance between work, personal life, and a healthy lifestyle. Bo explains that not having kids helped him find more time for his business and get things running efficiently. We also discuss how the pandemic has affected people today. Bo shares how he did flipping for the first time this year and made $15,000 out of the first deal. He says he’d like to continue testing and finding the right waters to start something new.   Don’t miss out on this episode of the Just Start Real Estate podcast that is filled with huge take-aways from my powerful conversation with Bo Kim! Notable quotes:   “You have to really start with the end in mind.” Bo Kim   “If you don't have the end goal in mind, you're just gonna pick up any random properties and these could be other investors' problem children that you are buying by mistake.” Bo Kim   “So for me, the number of units is never the goal. It's making sure that whatever I buy and invest in really correlates with the lifestyle that I want in the future. ” Bo Kim   “It goes back to educating yourself because you don't know what you don't know.” Bo Kim   “If you do what everybody else is doing, you're gonna get what everybody else gets.” Bo Kim   “I like to call it the work-life blend. You just have to find what's important to you and incorporate it into your day-to-day.”  Bo Kim   “I think balance is tough. And everyone's different. You don't have kids, maybe someone who's listening does and they can't do it the same. “ Mike Simmons   “Don't use that as an excuse, get out there and do the work and learn as much as you need to be dangerous. “ Mike Simmons Links: Bo’s Email Bo’s Website Bo’s Instagram Bo’s LinkedIn Profile Bigger Cash Flow Podcast 7 Figure Flipping Return on Investments Just Start Real Estate JSRE on Facebook Mike on

For this episode, I am thrilled to interview Trevor Mauch, the CEO at Carrot. Carrot is a digital SaaS company that helps over 6,500 real estate professionals generate consistent, high-quality leads online by leveraging content marketing and is an industry-leading software. Trevor is passionate about using business to fuel investor’s passion and to amplify the impact investors want to make in the world, helping entrepreneurs achieve freedom, flexibility, finances, and impact. Trevor shares his background story of buying his first rental property back in college and how the business that his parents were in discouraged him from entrepreneurship at a young age. He describes how his dad pushed him to buy that first property, which he still owns today. Trevor talked about limiting beliefs that people have that pile-up and create an impossible mountain to climb. We then moved on to when Trevor moved to Portland and started entertaining the idea of entrepreneurship. He explains how he gave himself time to figure out entrepreneurship, which was hard for him financially before things started looking up and he started earning a consistent income. Trevor describes how he found real estate wholesaling and also turned his passion for marketing into a day job for his active income. He opens up about his serial entrepreneurship endeavors which include real estate, marketing, publishing company, and others. We dive into the topic of entrepreneurship and whether entrepreneurs are born or made. By comparing his own journey with his brother’s, Trevor believes that entrepreneurs are born, but also agrees that they have to develop certain attributes to be a true entrepreneur. Carrot was born from Trevor’s passion for marketing that had turned into a draining activity before he found his unique abilities and went all-in with them. He describes how he found a mentor and emulated him to find things that give him more energy. Trevor advises people to stop doing things that drain their energy even if they bring you a lot of money, and instead focus on things that give you energy and keep you motivated. We discuss the Carrot brand and how it helps real estate investors create customized sites that rank and convert well on Google. Trevor explains how they’ve been adjusting their data over the years to keep up with the competition. They have been building a lot of content marketing tools to make it easier for people to get content online and rank it well on Google, plus win more deals by being the trusted authority. He explains that his most successful clients at Carrot meet their goals with written content by either writing it themselves or by choosing Carrot’s automated content packs. Lastly, we talk about the importance of scheduling your content on your site and social media as a way to create authority. Trevor explains how content helps you as an investor demystify your process which encourages people to trust and follow you.   You really have to check out Carrot, the #1 Inbound Online Lead Generation System For Serious Real Estate Professionals, and Trevor’s podcast dedicated to interviewing his clients, CarrotCast. You will not want to miss this episode of Just Start Real Estate chock-full of fabulous information and value from marketing guru and fellow real estate investor, Trevor Mauch! Notable Quotes:   “That’s the difference I find between successful and unsuccessful people - some just do something with what they know and others don’t.” Mike Simmons   “People often have the ingredients of entrepreneurship, but they either never put themselves in that position or they’re never put in that position, so it’s unrealized.” Mike Simmons   “You know you’re doing the right stuff when people pay you really well and say you’re really good at it.” Trevor Mauch   “I found my unique abilities and went all-in on them.” Trevor Mauch   “You win, not by saying you can buy fast because everyone can. You win by being the trusted authority in that area or topic.” Trevor Mauch   “Even if we’re not trying to focus on Google rankings, we need to focus on making sure that we have an authority hub, so all our marketing converts better because of the content on our website.” Trevor Mauch   “Leads are the oxygen of your company; you can’t live without leads.” Mike Simmons           Links: Carrot CarrotCast Trevor’s Website Trevor on Instagram  7 Figure Flipping Return on Investments Just Start Real Estate JSRE on Facebook Mike on Facebook Mike on Instagram Mike on LinkedIn Mike on Twitter Level Jumping: How I Grew My Business to Over $1 Million in Profits in 12 Months  

For this episode, I welcome David Hill, a leading expert on telephone prospecting, bestselling author, and popular podcast host of the Path to Mastery Podcast. Over the past twenty-eight years, he has worked as a salesperson in numerous industries and depended primarily on the phone to make sales. He was previously a team leader at Keller Williams Greater Hartford and is now at eXp Realty.   David first shares his background story from a call-center caller when he was seventeen years old to building a career as an excellent salesperson. A funny turn of events is that David’s career in real estate was largely influenced by his then 10-year-old daughter… I hope you listen to the episode to hear all about it!   We discuss the lessons of resiliency and dealing with rejection that David learned during his journey making sales calls. David explains call reluctance as the ‘little voice’ that stops you from taking that leap and the many forms it shows up in.   David explains why you need to be proactive in sales to be good at it and effective salespeople condition themselves to be this way. He perfectly describes the type of character that he believes will struggle in sales and points out that you need more than a great personality to be successful. David made a lot of mistakes and had many failures but his willingness to continue making things right is what has defined his success. He has mastered how to be the right leader even as he looks for the right people to hire.   We eventually dive into the topic of David’s bestselling book, The Sales Playbook. He wrote the book to give people eleven strategies to become great at sales. ‘The hidden goldmine in your pocket’ is a phrase David uses to describe a phone and your contacts and all the connections you can make with them. The text message form of communication can be interpreted differently and hence ineffective as compared to face-to-face calls or voice calls.   We move on to discussing real estate and why David prefers wholesaling which isn’t necessarily a favorite of most real estate investors. He explains most of the strategies that make him believe that there’s a lot of potential in wholesaling.   David describes his experience hosting his podcast, the Path to Mastery, and bringing Gary Vee plus other prominent people on his show. One of his popular pieces of advice is for people to stop rushing in life and instead slow down and be present. David asks for my feedback on his podcast which I willingly give based on the episodes I’ve listened to. We also talk about the art of podcasting and what it takes to put high-quality audio out there. Don’t miss this episode of Just Start Real Estate with the very smart and engaging, David Hill! Notable Quotes:   “In sales, don’t take things personally.” David Hill   “If you’re going to be good at sales, you’re going to have to be proactive in some capacity.” David Hill   “If you’re the type of person that can’t get beyond your own ego, beyond not looking good or being right all the time, I think you’re going to struggle in sales.” David Hill   “The difference between adequate, okay, and really good is tremendous.” Mike Simmons   “There’s a lot of difference in the revenue when you have a really good salesperson.” Mike Simmons   “I think it’s finding the right people but then also being the right leader.” David Hill   “A lot of people hide behind texts.” David Hill   “You have to know what phase, what cycle of the market you’re in, and adjust to it.” Mike Simmons   “You change based on what the conditions are.” Mike Simmons Links: David’s Website The Sales Playbook by David Hill 7 Figure Flipping Return on Investments Just Start Real Estate JSRE on Facebook Mike on Facebook Mike on Instagram Mike on LinkedIn Mike on Twitter Level Jumping: How I Grew My Business to Over $1 Million in Profits in 12 Months

For this episode, I welcome Reed Goossens, who is a real estate investor, best-selling author, entrepreneur, and host of the popular podcast, Investing in the US. In 2012, Reed quit his job in Australia and moved halfway across the globe to the United States to change his life and chase a dream. With limited funds, no investing experience, and no credit, Reed went from purchasing a small duplex to growing his own real estate investment firm, Wildhorn Capital.   Reed first shares his background story from living all across Europe as both a structural engineering expert and a tourist to later moving to New York and falling in love with it to never want to leave. He once worked as a deckhand in a luxury yacht in Europe where he got to experience a glimpse into the crazy world of the ‘filthy rich’.   We move on to discussing how Reed got into real estate intending to escape the corporate world and embark on backpacking travel adventures. Reed explains how reading Rich Dad Poor Dad changed his perspective on entrepreneurship and developed his interest in real estate. He continued educating himself on real estate and within a month of living in New York, he attended the first Real Estate Investor Association (REIA) meeting.   Reed describes the Australian real estate market as a high appreciation market where you don’t buy for cash flowing investments. Reed explains how he bought his first property at $30,000 which set up his path to many other deals. Reed had the clear goal of cash flow and started by buying a small duplex but ended up flipping it before getting into the scale side of it as a way to produce passive income.   We discuss how Reed moved from buying duplexes and triplexes into buying larger apartments. A friend of Reed challenged him to get a mentor and fundraise for capital, which he did. He did this by beginning to build a personal brand and he found that he began to face the challenge of imposter syndrome. He overcame this by creating a podcast that served as a foundation to educate people, and in turn, this built up his confidence. Reed also shares how he build a brand around his own story and transparency, vulnerability, being down-to-earth, and approachable, which ultimately helped him get to deals and grow his business.   We discuss the importance of building a personal brand that’s not about striving to get millions of following but being a key person of interest to grow your real estate business. Reed explains in detail how his brand story and podcast helped him meet people, gain trust, establish credibility in the industry, and be able to grow his real estate business to where it is now.   We eventually jump into the topic of syndication, which is the act of pulling people’s money together and buying a large deal that one individual couldn’t buy on their own. Reed explains syndication with an analogy I believe is the best I’ve ever heard. He then goes ahead to explain how he started syndicating deals with his mentor but broke out on his own in 2016. He is now doing exclusively apartments in San Antonio and Austin, Texas. Reed explains how they keep it lean when it comes to scaling up, plus how they have mastered the art of doing what they say they’re going to do. Reed shares how he handles being a remote investor and the challenges he faces.   Lastly, we talk about the possible future of the real estate industry. He describes multifamily as a golden child of commercial assets right now in growing cities. It is important to understand the keys in your industry to perform even during a crisis or an election year. Don’t miss this episode of Just Start Real Estate that is filled with gold nuggets from super-successful entrepreneur, Reed Goossens!  Notable Quotes:   “Anytime anybody has an abundance of anything, it’s hard to appreciate it.” Mike Simmons   “Australia is a high appreciation market- high demand, low supply.” Reed Goossens   “I’m not going to get to deal #10 without doing that first deal.” Reed Goossens   “You have to get really clear on what your goals are and for me it was cash flow.” Reed Goossens   “Self-education is great, but you come to a point where you need a coach in your corner.” Reed Goossens   “People want to know your story - that’s what’s really important and then they invest in you. The deals are actually secondary.” Reed Goossens   “Looking back, if I didn’t do the podcast or the branding stuff, I’m sure I wouldn’t be in the place I am today.” Reed Goossens   “Underwriting is determining the value of what you should buy it for and understanding the numbers of the deal.” Mike Simmons   “Scaling sometimes is where people fall apart because they either go too fast and are reckless, or they hire the wrong people.” Mike Simmons   “Being able to perform, close on a deal, and do what you say you’re going to do is super valuable.” Reed Goossens   “You can do this business from th

For this episode, I welcome Victor Menasce, the author of Magnetic Capital and the host of the daily Real Estate Espresso Podcast. He specializes in the development of new construction multi-family apartments, assisted living, industrial, and workforce housing in several markets across North America. Before moving into real estate development, Victor held roles as Vice President of Engineering at Wavesat, a developer of chips for wireless networks, and Chief Technical Officer at Applied Micro Circuits Corporation (AMCC), a Silicon Valley-based public company that develops microprocessors for numerous consumer products including televisions and gaming. Victor lives in Ottawa, Canada with his family.   Victor first shares his background story as a microprocessor developer which eventually got tedious and he had to retire. He made a hard turn into the real estate world and is now doing almost all new construction development. We move on to talk about his shift from the tech industry to real estate. There’s no one single dominant player in real estate anywhere in the world and people will invest at a level they wouldn’t in the tech industry. Victor explains how real estate doesn’t require much for people to start investing as compared to tech businesses that require deep pockets to get people to invest.   Together we dive into the real estate business approach that Victor took when he joined the industry. He saw a need in his city of Ottawa and strategized a way to serve a targeted market. He started by buying one-bedroom condos within a four-block radius of parliament and marketed them as fully furnished executive suites. He later sold that portfolio to focus on the US market when he saw an opportunity presented by the financial crisis in 2008.   We talk about the distress in commercial real estate following the pandemic, which included hotels. Victor explains how wealth is going to be transferred and some good assets will come into the market within a short period. Businesses are especially vulnerable now due to their outstanding debts.   We talk about the concept of new builds with Victor explaining his beliefs concerning demand and supply. Victor explains how he and his team learn from their developments in the US on the ‘good side of the line’ and the ‘bad side of the line’ as is defined by various zoning codes.   We move on to the power of developing relationships with the best people in the world. Victor explains how he opened his eyes to opportunities after becoming aware of what is possible. He then talks about his book Magnetic Capital which is about the five principles to help you raise capital for any venture. There’s a difference between asking for money and offering an investor an opportunity to collaborate on a project. Victor gives us the reason why he offers compelling and interesting projects that serve a need in the marketplace to potential investors rather than directly asking them for money.   We discuss what Victor means when he talks about ‘good charitable cause, bad foundation.’ He believes that raising money for a charitable cause is no different from raising money for investment. The foundation of a worthy cause should be set to have an outcome just like an investment does and it is important to look for these qualities when you are looking to invest in one.    Lastly, we discuss how to invest like a billionaire by looking for and investing in safe deals. Don’t miss this powerful episode of Just Start Real Estate with tons of applicable tips and advice from uber-successful entrepreneur, Victor Menasce! Notable Quotes:   “Every single project is a little different, even the ones you design in architecture to look identical to the next.” Victor Menasce   “People will invest with you. They will give you capital on a level that they wouldn’t in the tech industry.” Victor Menasce   “You need to be challenged and pushed out of that comfort zone.”  Mike Simmons   “Even today, I’m not a real estate guy per se…I really took a business approach.” Victor Menasce   “Whenever you have a business model that’s based on the assumption that you’re going to be able to feed the debt based on the revenue, and the assumption is the revenue is going to stay uniform to service that debt, you have some level of vulnerability.”  Victor Menasce   “It really comes down to developing relationships with the very best people in the world.” Victor Menasce   “Just becoming aware of what’s possible opened my eyes to seeing those opportunities.” Victor Menasce   “When I saw a void in the marketplace, I just wanted to address that, so that is why I wrote my book.” Victor Menasce   “When trust is there, decisions happen faster.” Victor Menasce   “If the goals for the money and the goals for the project don’t match, don’t take the money, because it’s not going to work.” Victor Menasce   “More sophisticated investors ar

In this episode, I am happy to interview Max Keller, who is a real estate investor, bestselling author, podcaster, speaker, and an expert panelist on the topic of lead generation and marketing. In just a few short years, Max went from being a full-time high school math teacher to flipping over 100 houses. His unique marketing approach landed him onstage with Robert Kiyosaki as he was presented with the 2019 Industry Innovator of the Year Award. He is passionate about sharing his strategies to transform ordinary investors into trusted experts in the eyes of motivated sellers and private lenders.   Max first shares his background story as a math teacher who wanted to find a way to earn more when he stumbled on real estate. He didn’t originally plan to leave his teaching job but saw a good opportunity that he liked and decided to go full force. We discussed when Max knew it was the right time to quit his teaching job at only deal number two. The market cycle was lower at this time which made it easier to scoop up a property. Max explains the tactics he used to make real estate investing work for him, like selling his house to fund the business with the support of his wife. Flipping 100 houses in two years needed a lot of funding which Max explains progressed from personal money to private money.   Max dives into his current marketing strategy which originated from a perceived lack of standing out from his competition. He shares how he created a three-criteria list of what he wanted: deals of great profit, sellers who were not resisting his offers, and to have fun doing it. Max shares how authenticity and being genuine get him more business through trusted referrals.   We discuss why Max made the transition from ‘junk mail to coffee table’ which was about finding a more scalable way to build trust. Max laughed off the idea of writing a book when he first heard it, but after contemplating it, he decided to put all his knowledge on senior housing on paper and wrote his first book, Home to Home: The Step by Step Senior Housing Guide. The book opened up other things like instant credibility and trust and now he is known as the senior housing expert.   We move on to how Max saw the need to become an objective foundational source of information for the senior living space. Max’s book teaches people the pro and cons of selling their homes, how to stay in their homes, home rehabbing, and much more. He also has materials to empower and educate adult children and grandchildren of seniors on picking the right senior housing facility.   We talk about the importance of adding a book to your marketing strategy that Max himself used to increase his response rate. He also explains how his focus on a small geographical area helps him get more leads, plus using Facebook videos to create a personal connection with his students. The book has become more of a business card and referral tool that offers value to people and a better response rate for Max. He mentions some other niche-related marketing strategies that he uses, as well.   Lastly, we discuss the importance of writing a book as an entrepreneur and how to approach it. Max explains many of the concepts of writing a book and how by utilizing these ideas, people can write their own books more quickly. Don’t miss this episode of Just Start Real Estate that is value-packed with lesser-known marketing strategies with marketing expert, Max Keller! Notable Quotes: “It started with my own money. When you’re doing one deal at a time, it works. But once you start doing multiples, that doesn’t work.” Max Keller “I really wasn’t standing out, and it was a grind.” Max Keller “Being a math teacher, I knew this is a number’s game. I didn’t want to overpay for deals and at least I made that good decision.” Max Keller   “I didn’t leave teaching to be on a hamster wheel and a grind.” Max Keller   “Of all the deals that I do, 80% of them are with people who are older.” Mike Simmons   “When you give people choices that don’t point to you, they see you as objective and credible.” Max Keller   “I know a lot of people that are trying to figure out how to use Facebook to generate a higher return on investment and I know a lot of people that have abandoned that because they can’t figure it out.” Mike Simmons   “You certainly feel more like you know someone more from a video than you do a postcard.” Mike Simmons     “Generic messaging gets a generic conversion and response rates.” Max Keller   “The word-of-mouth marketing is very powerful and there’s really no substitute for it. It’s just very hard to scale. I haven’t found anything better than writing a book that has been able to enhance it.” Max Keller   “For every one person that’s written a book, there’s like ten that have a half-completed book they will never finish.” Max Keller   “The number one thing that people are struggling with right now are leads.” Max

In today’s episode, I welcome Feras Moussa, who is a successful entrepreneur with a tech background. He is the co-founder and managing partner at Disrupt Equity, a real-estate services platform focusing on multifamily acquisition and investments for investors. Feras graduated from the University of Texas with a Computer Science degree and worked at Microsoft straight from college. He later resigned from the company to bring tech to industries that lack it, where he later found his passion for real estate. He has helped raise millions of dollars for multifamily syndications across 2000 units, in addition to managing his own portfolio of properties.   Feras shares how his search for new opportunities and love for entrepreneurship landed him in the world of real estate. After starting in single-family home rental investing, Feras later decided to scale up into apartment complexes, where started Disrupt Equity with his partner.  Disrupt Equity is focused on multifamily acquisitions and investments, and in doing so, has helped leverage his strengths in tech to better identify quality investments for others. He shares how he’s always been an entrepreneur at heart as he started his own web company while still in high school.    We get to know the ups and downs he faced while starting his business, and what the specific challenges were that he faced in the journey. He also cites how his tech background has helped him grow his business and bring changes to the real estate investment sector altogether, something he had envisioned while leaving Microsoft as a developer.    Feras talks about real-estate investing as being a numbers game, and that by investing in apartments and not single family houses, you can make better profits. He also shares with us his way of viewing an apartment deal. He weighs the price factor to check for the risks as well as the rewards, and also keeps a check if syndication is a possibility with each deal.   We also discuss how Feras views software such as Asana, Slack, and email and why these are better to use than normal ways of texting. He also discusses how he makes use of these software applications to assign tasks to his virtual assistants and teammates. We learn how trust is a highlighted major factor in relationships with VAs, and that appropriate pay and understanding can help them feel more connected to your business and enhance their productivity.   Feras explains what disrupt management actually is, and how he scaled his business to 1500 units in three years. Coming from this background of education and practical experience, Feras shared valuable information on a lot of topics ranging such as handling property management through COVID-19, finding investors and building the right partnerships, handling nightmare syndications and bouncing back after major setbacks, and facilitating a great relationship with brokers, while also giving away tips for sourcing off-market deals.   Feras is a great guy and I loved getting to know him better, both for his real estate knowledge and also because he is a generous and charitable human being. You do not want to miss this fascinating and informative episode of the Just Start Real Estate Podcast with guest, Feras Moussa! Notable quotes:   “Obviously, coming from the tech world, stocks are the thing everyone thinks about, but I was looking for different opportunities.” Feras Moussa   “We just ended up pivoting to do full-blown property management, because it's a much bigger bang for the buck.” Feras Moussa   “Even if you have that one employee that goes to 10 different houses, that's a lot of time wasted in transit.” Feras Moussa   “It's just how much we use tech to really give visibility.” Feras Moussa   “What I have found is, if you have a very linear straightforward task that's well defined and doesn't allow for a lot of variables, you can hire a VA and it can work. “ Feras Moussa   “Our VAs feel like they're part of a team and they work US hours. That's part of the requirement.”  Feras Moussa Links: Feras’ Website Feras’ LinkedIn Profile Disrupt Equity Website Feras’ Email 7 Figure Flipping Return on Investments Just Start Real Estate JSRE on Facebook Mike on Facebook Mike on Instagram Mike on LinkedIn Mike on Twitter Level Jumping: How I Grew My Business to Over $1 Million in Profits in 12 Months

In a very insightful conversation today, I am pleased to welcome fellow real-estate investor, popular speaker, educator, podcaster, and author Mitch Stephen onto the show. Mitch has been in the real-estate game for more than 25 years and he has purchased well over 2,000 houses in and around his hometown of San Antonio, Texas. Today, he specializes in owner-financed properties with individuals left behind by traditional lending institutions. Mitch has also forged the creation of a mass texting software, LiveComm. Listen in as this phenomenal individual shares his journey building and expanding the empire he has built!   Mitch says he started basically because of a substantial relationship he had with a woman who left him for someone who was rich and in a better position than he was at that time. He badly wanted a path to financial freedom but money was never discussed in his family or even while he was in school. He shares that his real estate investing career started at the age of 23 when he read Nothing Down by Robert Allen, which gave him the courage that he could get into real estate. But it took him seven years to own the concept in his heart and actually get started with it.   Mitch had, by accident, made some money in real estate, which propelled him to get more actively involved. He flipped a couple of houses and put $35,000 in the bank which was a year's salary for him when he was a bartender. He decided to take a year off and see what he could do. In 1996, he flipped forty-five houses, sixty-five houses the next year, and then one-hundred-fifty the following year. He’d grossed a lot of money but was very unorganized and inexperienced to be at that level.   Mitch talked a lot about working with his family members and the lessons they have learned along the way. He said sometimes it is a struggle because it is almost as there is shared mistake-making and little progress forward. Mitch got to the point where he had to shut down the business, reassess everything, and start fresh. Even with these issues, he has made it work with family members and his daughter has been a loyal employee for over 25 years.   He’s shared a very successful idea he’d implemented to obtain more deals. He partnered with people and paid them 50% of the profit if they brought him a good deal. He shares how he would have a line outside his door every day of ten or fifteen people who showed up because they didn't have any other source of income.   Mitch has also discussed people who tend to spend a lot of money when they initially start making good money and said that people who have that kind of money appreciate people who are careful and live within their means. We have an extensive discussion about the real estate market downturn in 2008 and how his business thrived during those times. It was after this that Mitch started finding and hiring better people, which made a noticeable and positive impact on his business.   Mitch’s company specializes in buying distressed properties with other people’s money and selling those properties with owner financing. His personal expertise includes raising private money, finding bargain properties, negotiating favorable terms, dealing with renovations and contractors, and selling notes with little to no discount. Mitch also spoke about the educational programs he has put together to help other investors do exactly this and experience success in this field.   Mitch and I just have a blast in this episode of Just Start Real Estate and you don’t want to miss it! It is longer than usual because he just provides us with so much wisdom and actionable advice, so please take the time to listen and learn from this fabulous guest, Mitch Stephen! Notable quotes:   “When I re-read the books, after some maturing, I was able to actually absorb the message deeper and own it in my heart.” Mitch Stephen   “I'm interested in my financial freedom, and the stability of my family and my income for a long period of time. I don't give a damn about a car.” Mitch Stephen   “I think people who have that kind of money appreciate people who are careful and live within their means.” Mitch Stephen   “We learn what a good partner is, or we learn what a good business is when they can survive a bad time. ” Mitch Stephen   “I do not ever want to take someone's house, I think it’s the shittiest business plan in the whole wide world.” Mitch Stephen   “I only borrow what I need, I don't borrow money to live on.”  Mitch Stephen Links: Mitch’s Website Mitch’s LinkedIn Profile Real Estate Investor Summit Podcast MY LIFE & 1,000 HOUSES: Failing Forward to Financial Freedom MY LIFE & 1,000 HOUSES: 200+ Ways to Find Bargain Properties MY LIFE & 1,000 HOUSES: The Art of Owner Financing Livecomm Nothing Down 7 Figure Flipping Return on Investments Just Start Real Estate JSRE on Facebook Mike on Facebook Mike on Instagram Mike on LinkedIn Mike on Twitter Lev

For this episode, I am excited to welcome AJ Osborne to the Just Start Real Estate Podcast. AJ is an entrepreneur, investor, author, speaker, and popular podcast host of Cashflow 2 Freedom and Self Storage Income. He also owns and manages his self-storage portfolio of $100 million in assets and specializes in acquiring and turning around underperforming facilities with a value-add strategy. AJ loves to show other entrepreneurs and investors on how to focus on technology and automation in order to grow their businesses.    AJ starts out by providing some background on how he got into real estate investing. He starts off by telling us that he was an insurance nerd, and even though it is thought of as a boring occupation, it taught him so much because of the lessons it provided him. He was selling group insurance policies, which were very technical, had a long sales cycle, and a very high failure rate. He learned so many great lessons from working in this field but started to see that it was not something he could scale and he wasn’t really working for himself.   As AJ began to see that earning a high wage wasn’t necessarily making him wealthy or financially free, he decided to buy brokerages in order to consistently have clients. He had a terrible experience with one of these deals and this changed his entire work strategy. He decided he needed to actually own assets that paid him consistently and predictably. AJ and his dad, working as partners, ended up buying several self storage complexes mostly because they thought they would be easy real estate investments because they didn’t have toilets. What AJ found was that they were more like businesses rather than real estate assets.   AJ said that the way they began approaching these self storage investments was to look at the potential for building revenue only. I asked him to explain what he meant by revenue management other than occupancy because this type of investing seems a lot like multi-family properties to me, which hinges on occupancy. AJ gave us some great analogies to explain his philosophy towards creating wealth with this unique wealth-building tool.   AJ shares a lot about the lessons he learned in building his business and he found that very few people understand the intricacies of self storage investing so he decided to share all of this information through podcasting and writing a book, titled The Investor’s Guide to Growing Wealth in Self Storage. He said they just starting uploading all of this information and it caught on like wildfire because there are no other resources for this type of investing. AJ mentioned how they get a lot of deals this way because sharing these investment strategies built people’s trust in their business.   AJ mentioned he had just started a private equity company, so I asked him to explain what that meant to our listeners. He said that they just take on private investor’s money to give them equity in a deal. He explains to us how he started in this arm of the business and give us some specific examples of deals he has taken on private money. He also shared how doing business this way reinvigorated him because he is a people-person and loves brainstorming with others.   I asked AJ to explain the new technology company he is involved with. He said they are partners with Tenant Inc, a property management program whose technology is superior, yet simple and helps to centralize and streamline your self storage business. Some of its functionality includes ways to easily integrate third-party technology, manage your managers, and bolster your profits, equity, and market position.   We also talked about networking, how you go about finding and closing self storage deals, how to grow your businesses and still be personally productive, and so much more! You have GOT to listen to this information-packed episode of Just Start Real Estate! AJ is involved in so many different projects and aspects of the industry, you do not want to miss all of the fantastic value he shares! Notable Quotes:   “I followed in my father’s footsteps as a salesman because that was what I thought life was.” - AJ Osborne   “I learned very quickly, and early, there were some things I was good at and I had to stick with that because there was nothing else.” - AJ Osborne   “I liked sales - it made me fail all the time!” - AJ Osborne   “Sales experience will serve you forever. Sales is such a valuable background to have.” - Mike Simmons   “That was the culture of my family… no one cares if you are hurting, you just work.” - AJ Osborne   “I was rich, but I was not wealthy. Those two things are completely different.” - AJ Osborne   “I was on the biggest treadmill ever, and the moment that it stopped, I was screwed.” - AJ Osborne   “We own a lot of different companies and in most, we are partners. We have an incredible relationship.” - AJ Osborne, about his father    “Tha

In this episode, I have the opportunity to interview successful investor and entrepreneur, Mike Bonadies. Mike is the owner of Side by Side MRO, a maintenance, perseveration, and construction company, and co-owner of TerraVestra, a property management company. He is also a landlord himself owning 25 of his own units in South Jersey. Get ready to dive into some of the less spoken of and dirtier aspects of real estate in this interview!   Mike begins by telling us about his time in the corporate world as a commercialization manager for DeWALT power tools. He said his work experience was in the construction industry as he was brokering deals with Home Depot. A coworker overheard him working the phones one day and asked him if he had ever considered being a landlord, and that was the beginning of Mike’s real estate investing journey. After doing some research, he bought his first duplex in South Jersey, which he house-hacked. He invested in twenty properties before people started coming to him about property management issues. His buddy, Drew Side, owned sixty properties, so together they decided to start their own property management company, TerraVestra. This also led them to start their own property maintenance company, Side by Side MRO.   I told Mike that I have a company managing my properties and my only frustration with them is that often the maintenance calls seem really expensive, especially since I have a flipping background. Mike took some time to explain the differences between how construction and maintenance companies operate, especially because of the overhead they may have or the services they are providing. There is also a different level of insurance that a maintenance company has to hold which drives up the cost of service calls. We spent some time discussing the details of finding and working successfully with property management companies.   We talked extensively about property management styles, how they contract with customers, how they handle pricing, and finding a company that fits with your vision. I wanted Mike to explain how a landlord could go about finding a property maintenance company if they were just interested in contracting this type of company to handle their portfolio. Mike gave us several routes on how to best find and vet these types of companies. He also talked about how important it is to find maintenance companies that have experience with your market’s property asset class.   I asked Mike about how to go about finding an effective property manager based on the size of an investor’s portfolio. He brought up a great point about the manager’s size and if they are spread out over several states or work more locally. He also addressed the difference in types of properties and how much attention you would get from various kinds of management companies. We also discussed the level of property he looks at to purchase and also to manage. Mike said he likes to raise the quality level of neighborhoods, so he will buy several properties on a particular street and bring all of them up a couple of notches. We talked a bit about the impact of the pandemic on housing and what types of homes might provide a return regardless of the restrictions and ongoing impact.    We have interviewed other landlords and property managers recently, but in this episode of the Just Start Real Estate Podcast, our guest provides some unique insights and valuable, practical advice for all manner of property owners. Don’t miss it! Notable Quotes:   “Once you build your brand and show some success, people will absolutely start investing in you.”   Mike Bonadies     “I just started blabbing to everyone what I was doing and pretty soon I had people coming to me saying that they wanted to get involved.”   Mike Simmons     “The money is out there. You just have to show a little initiative.”   Mike Simmons     “As a landlord, to me, the maintenance is the silent killer.”   Mike Simmons     “A maintenance company’s cost structure and how they make money is very different from contractors.”   Mike Bonadies     “There are not enough people doing physical labor, and therefore, the rates of a normal maintenance tech are getting higher, and when those go up, prices to customers go up.”   Mike Bonadies     “If you get a good maintenance company, they will absorb all of your headaches, and even if you pay a slight premium for the service, it is worth it.”   Mike Bonadies     “I feel like a good property management company doesn’t keel to every request from a tenant.”   Mike Bonadies     “I look at every property that we manage like, ‘If this was my property, what would I do?’”   Mike Bonadies     “Understanding the industry is equally as important as having systems in place.”   Mike Bonadies     “Our maintenance clients just know they ca

Today, I welcome Daniel Ramsey to the Just Start Real Estate Podcast to talk about all things Virtual Assistants. Daniel is the founder & CEO of MyOutDesk, the highest-rated Virtual Assistant company in the marketplace with over 500 five-star reviews, and over 13 years of experience serving more than 6000 clients.   Daniel’s journey to launching MyOutDesk actually began on his honeymoon in Guatemala, when he suddenly found himself working and closing real estate deals at the bar at 1:00am. He realized that if he wanted to have the life he had dreamed of and be able to take some time off, he would need more leverage. So he returned to the US and spent two years completely rebuilding his real estate business with Virtual Assistants, before taking 6 months off to move to South America.   Daniel explains that MyOutDesk was born in 2008 when one of his friends asked him if Daniel could help him to find five assistants for his business. Daniel agreed to supply the team, but it would be a lot of effort, so he would have to charge for it. He registered the business and supplied the assistants and before long, his friend had a team of seventeen assistants saving him around 150k per year. That’s how MyOutDesk was born accidentally. The team now consists of twenty US-based employees and forty freelancers in the Philippines.   Daniel then explains that as businesses grow and generate more revenue, they pass through different stages. First ‘I do it,’ which then becomes ‘we do it,’ which then transforms to ‘they do it,’ and in each stage, the focus shifts, and different things are a priority. When your business moves from ‘we do it’ to ‘they do it’ - all of your focus lies on systems and processes.   I am then particularly interested in why Daniel has chosen the Philippines as a country to source VAs from, and he explains that his reasons are mostly because the English language is taught from a young age, and the culture and understanding of right and wrong is very similar to the US.   Daniel then explains that hiring is hard if you don’t have the right process, and even then it may not be a perfect fit the first time around. He then goes into his hiring process in more detail and also shares what happens before a VA is presented to a client, how long it normally takes for their clients to hire someone, and what the expected cost for a full-time VA is.   Daniel then compares their service to marriage rather than dating - all of their assistants are already doing the job they are being hired for and have experience, and that’s the reason why they only source full-time team members.   Because I have had experience with Virtual Assistants in the past, I wanted to share a struggle I had which is I found the ones I hired unable to think outside of the box or to use deductive reasoning in certain situations. Daniel explains that the problem really lies within the business and a lack of well-documented systems and processes. He explains that everything in a business can really be explained with if/then statements and that takes a lot of time to document. And the more complex your business is, the longer it takes to find someone and train them.   Throughout the interview, Daniel has shared a lot of gold nuggets that you can take and implement in your business, so give it a listen to catch all the details! Notable Quotes:   “I never learn a lesson unless my heart, or my wallet, hurts.” - Daniel Ramsey   “I had a pretty big epiphany. I wanted to stay married. I wanted to one day have kids. I wanted to have a life.” - Daniel Ramsey   “As an entrepreneur, we all think ‘I’m going to start a business, so I can build this beautiful life,’ but the reality is that you’re constantly in the fight.” - Daniel Ramsey   “I was a helicopter delegator, I’d tell somebody to do it. Then they’d do it and screw it up and then I’d have to go back over it to fix it.” - Daniel Ramsey   “I picked up that property, built a duplex, and I learned a lot, which is code (if you’re an entrepreneur) for I lost money.” - Daniel Ramsey   “In the process of building your home, there is a step-by-step process. In the process of building leverage in your business, there is a step-by-step process.” - Daniel Ramsey   “If you take two or three hours and focus on growing the business, that’s when you start to see magic. That’s when scaling starts to happen.” - Daniel Ramsey   “There is a point at which you say, ‘Oh my God, I just bought half of my day back.’”  - Daniel Ramsey Links: For a consultation text SVP to 31996 MyOutDesk Scaling Your Business with MOD Virtual Professionals Return on Investments Just Start Real Estate JSRE on Facebook Mike on Facebook Mike on Instagram Mike on LinkedIn Mike on Twitter Level Jumping: How I Grew My Business to Over $1 Million in Profits in 12 Months

Today, I welcome Nate Bailey to the Just Start Real Estate Podcast. Nate is a successful entrepreneur having built multiple businesses in the areas of insurance and real estate. He is the bestselling author of three books including the 100 Mile Mindset: Discover the Power of Being Your Word. Nate is a former US Army Lieutenant, popular speaker, and coach.   As always, I like to start by going into my guests' backgrounds to understand their journey and how it led them to do what they do now. Nate tells me about his days in school and how he used to enjoy getting pulled out of class to listen to various speakers, always thinking that that is something he wouldn’t mind doing. After college, he joined the army, then started an insurance business before transitioning to being a speaker and coach full-time.   We then discuss the role of sports in his early life and how it contributed to his success by instilling discipline and encouraging the “dust yourself off and get back up” mentality. Nate then shares how he transitioned from high school into the army, which he loved more for the camaraderie rather than the military life.   In 2004 Nate then started an insurance business while he was in the National Guard and began his journey into real estate investing in 2010. He shares how he had been wanting to do this earlier, but fear and procrastination held him back. Nate explains that after his first deal was done he built a portfolio rather quickly. We then discuss the opportunity economic downturn brings, since 2010 had been a great year for Nate to start investing in property.   We then discuss the sale of his insurance business and what inspired him to transition to speaking and coaching. Nate shares that while his business was successful, he didn’t feel inspired by it. He had always wanted to make an impact on people’s lives and that’s how he decided to move into the field of coaching over a period of 2-3 years. Nate shares that the main themes in his speaking and coaching business revolve around mindset and Championship Leadership. Being a great leader for him means to lead yourself first.   We then divide into discussing the winning mindset and how we can create one for ourselves. Here Nate shares some gold nuggets from his experience of doing the 100 mile run. Nate shares how important it is to put yourself into difficult situations to grow and he also tells us a little more about his in-person event. Nate also attributes his success to surrounding himself with other people that are successful and I couldn’t agree more that positive peer pressure helps you to grow.   We then discuss the power of being your word and here Nate explains his concept of the integrity bank and the importance of following through with what you say you’re going to do and just how powerful this is.   Nate then shares his philosophy of life, which is just beautiful. Nate explains that most people just think of a legacy of something that they’re leaving behind, he however believes that the key lies in living your legacy, which is an amazing shift in thinking!    This is an incredibly powerful and motivating episode of the Just Start Real Estate Podcast that you do not want to miss with Championship Leadership’s Nate Bailey!  Notable Quotes:   “What’s required to be a great athlete, the work, the discipline, the dedication, the commitment, wanting to win - there are so many things that I’ve drawn from athletics that have helped me to be successful in life.”  - Nate Bailey   “The best thing about the military that I really loved was the people and the camaraderie. I wasn’t necessarily in love with military life.”  - Nate Bailey   “After I bought my first investment property, I ended up buying three more in a matter of months.” - Nate Bailey   “I knew this was something I always wanted to do, but there was always this apprehension, this fear of not knowing how to do it.” - Nate Bailey   “My previous job did not fire me up. It did not get me excited in the morning.” - Nate Bailey   “You have to put yourself in difficult situations to create a mentally tough mindset.” - Nate Bailey   “Everything is positive reinforcement right now and that makes us a little soft.” - Nate Bailey   “Peer pressure isn’t necessarily negative, it just depends on what the environment is. If you put yourself around the right people, the peer pressure is to be excellent.” - Mike Simmons   “The integrity bank is all about the power of being your word.” - Nate Bailey   “You can only withdraw so much from the integrity bank until there is a negative balance.” - Nate Bailey   “It’s powerful to have those kinds of people in your life, the ones that give you their word and you know it’s a done deal.” - Mike Simmons   “If you live a legacy, you’re going to leave one.” - Nate Bailey Links: Podcast: Championship Leadership  Nate's Website Free E-Book:

In this episode, I welcome 3-time best-selling author Chris Prefontaine to the show. Chris is the founder and CEO of SmartRealEstateCoach.com, the host of the popular show “Smart Real Estate Coach Podcast,” and has been in real estate for almost 30 years.   We first bring Chris’ experience into context by going way back to the early 90s. Chris initially went to college and worked for his father full-time as a purchasing agent, at which time he read Trump’s first book, The Art of the Deal, and he felt the itch to get into the real estate business, but he didn’t quite know yet how to get started.   Eventually, after watching his father purchase, engineer, and flip land, Chris made his first deal - a split level home on a golf course, bought conventionally with a mortgage. He subsequently subdivided the land, built a duplex on it, and then sold the duplex as 2 condos. Within a year, Chris made the transition to go into real estate full-time, although not entirely by choice. His dad had sold the company Chris was still working for and he got fired from it after only 4 weeks by the new owners. This left him unemployed with 2 young kids. Then, Chris listened to an old Earl Nightingale cassette tape and that sparked an idea. He subsequently did over 100 deals with absolutely no cash down!   We then dove deeper into his business model and Chris explains what it means to buy a house on terms. Chris explains how the ‘08 crash left him struggling, without any credit, and how he had to make some firm choices about his business model that led him to creative financing. We then go further into detail, explaining the terms of a lease-purchase, what it means if a property is owner-financed, how everyone involved benefits from the agreement for a variety of reasons, such as for example tax and estate planning.   Chris then shares his personal philosophy for transitioning from a full-time job to real estate investing. His most important advice is to have a game plan and then execute it, which is the hardest part. His top strategy has 3 simple steps: pick a niche, find someone to show you the path, and put the blinders on for 36 months to focus.   Today, Chris’ business is almost entirely based on lease purchasing and they currently purchase between two and five homes a month. After transitioning to his 3 payday model, Chris admits that he just doesn’t feel inspired to chase after one-time deals and this focus is what has contributed largely to his level of success.   After this, we discussed the ever-popular topic of finding deals. Chris reveals exactly how he finds his deals and then converts them, and what he pays particular attention to. We then dive into the most common objections that Chris experiences and he shares the exact replies that he gives in these circumstances.   Lastly, we talk about contingency plans and how Chris protects the business in case of a buyer defaulting or the economy taking a hit, which are two major concerns with the type of investing that he does. This episode is chock full of actionable advice and so you will not want to miss this version of the Just Start Real Estate Podcast with guest, Chris Prefontaine! Notable Quotes:   “Don’t get scattered. If you have a plan, stick to the plan. Stop looking for answers once you find them.” - Mike Simmons   “A lot of people just get into that asking mode where they want more information, but they’re afraid to pull the trigger.” - Mike Simmons   “Here’s a formula I tell everyone: pick a niche you can get behind, something you can get passionate about. Find the person that can show you the path, someone that already did it. Then put the blinders on for 36 months.” - Chris Prefontaine   “Stay focused on what you know works. Focus is really, really important in real estate.” - Mike Simmons   “If we’re getting back into real estate, what are going to be the rules here? No signing personally, no bank loans, no soliciting of assets. All the things we did wrong, we just decided never to do again.” - Chris Prefontaine   “The takeaway is powerful - it’s that push-pull tension. When you have something taken away, the human instinct is to get it back.” - Mike Simmons Links: Real Estate on Your Own Terms - Free Book The Art of the Deal Chris’ Website Chris’ Google+ Channel Chris’ YouTube Channel Return on Investments Just Start Real Estate JSRE on Facebook Mike on Facebook Mike on Instagram Mike on LinkedIn Mike on Twitter Level Jumping: How I Grew My Business to Over $1 Million in Profits in 12 Months

In this episode, I am happy to welcome Mike “C-Roc” Ciorrocco. C-Roc has been a real estate investor since 2005 and is the CEO of People Building Incorporated. He is the host of the popular podcast “What Are You Made Of?” and author of the upcoming book, Rocket Fuel. He has also been recognized as one of the Yahoo Finance Top Business Leaders To Follow for 2020.   C-Roc began by telling us that he started in sales at the age of eight when he would find golf balls at the golf club he lived on and sell them to the golfers, all while being chased by the club manager in a cart! He was in sales for a water treatment company for nine years before getting into real estate and through this experience, he really learned how to deal with people. In 2005, C-Roc became a realtor and was a top-performing agent pretty quickly because of the work ethic he had developed in his former work life. After about a year, he realized that showing people houses wasn’t really his thing, so he moved into the mortgage industry.   C-Roc brought up training under Grant Cardone and I asked him what it meant to be a licensee of his program. The mortgage company he went to work for was already using Cardone University products and they were seeing a ton of growth when they implemented his systems. Being a licensee means that C-Roc can intertwine the Cardone ideas with his own and present them in his coaching and seminars. He said he has his own branding and ego, but that he is not stupid and wants to be associated with uber-successful people! C-Roc also gave us some of his background to explain why he felt drawn to Grant and his philosophy.   I asked C-Roc to explain the “What Are You Made Of?” Movement and what it really means to him. He said that he grew up surrounded by a lot of broken people who suffered from mental illness or addiction and that it influenced him to not only rise above it but also to try to fix it. He said that “what are you made of” is a form of self-talk, affirmation, or a way to push through a difficult situation. He talked about the power of writing down ideas, making a commitment to things even if you don’t know how to do them, and having people and opportunities come into your life to help you achieve goals. C-Roc talked about a difficult experience they had in their business that really caused them to re-evaluate what they were doing and it really birthed the movement.   I asked C-Roc to talk a bit about his upcoming book, Rocket Fuel. He said that it is his story and how past hardships can be a powerful force to either keep you down or break free and succeed. It uses the “what are you made of?” question to lead to personal transformation and achieve a fulfilling life. He said that he is really vulnerable and transparent in the telling of his story so that people can really see what the entrepreneurial journey is all about.   C-Roc also shares the enormous goals he has for his business, those he had before the pandemic, and how they have been affected by the coronavirus. He is working to develop a culture in their company so that the employees are indoctrinating each other on the way things are done to grow in team accountability and be successful. He is also planning to travel extensively promoting the book and the movement in order to help people grown their businesses by building up their employees.   This is an incredibly honest, transparent, and riveting episode of the Just Start Real Estate Podcast that you do not want to miss that is applicable to all people in any industry! Notable Quotes:   “Don’t hyper-focus on whether a salesperson you may hire has a ton of real estate experience… that is easily taught. Finding a great salesperson is often difficult.”   Mike Simmons     “My success is all about work ethic… there isn’t a secret.”   Mike “C-Roc” Ciorrocco     “Sometimes you have to get uncomfortable to get where you want to be.”   Mike “C-Roc” Ciorrocco     “I find someone that is successful and mimic them.”   Mike “C-Roc” Ciorrocco     “When something works, I like to share it.”   Mike “C-Roc” Ciorrocco     “Masterminds are ridiculously effective if you take them seriously and surround yourself with the right people.”   Mike Simmons     “Sometimes pain can be a great motivator.”   Mike Simmons     “Fire can propel you or burn you.”   Mike Simmons     “I thought the journey to success is invisible, so I got people on my podcast to share their stories and setbacks, how they have overcome them and turned it into rocket fuel.”   Mike “C-Roc” Ciorrocco     “I want to be a thought leader in the industry of comebacks.”   Mike “C-Roc” Ciorrocco     “I am looking for people that want to share their story and give them a platform to do that. I am all about giving.”   Mike “C-Roc” Ciorrocco     “The concept of turnin

In this episode, I am excited to host Laurence Jankelow. Laurence is the Co-Founder of Avail, an all-in-one software solution designed for do-it-yourself landlords. Prior to launching Avail, Laurence spent seven years in data analytics first as a Consultant at Protiviti Chicago and then at Goldman Sachs. Laurence is also a long-term real estate investor with a passion for 3-unit multi-family properties in Chicago.   We started as we usually do by diving into Laurence’s background and how he got into real estate investing. He and a friend took some real estate classes while attending college and studying finance. One professor explained to them the perils of not paying your property taxes and how an investor could really take advantage of the property owners who do not. Laurence and his friend took that info and invested in delinquent mobile home property tax lien certificates.   After graduating from college, Laurence went into a business and risk-consulting career in Chicago and stopped investing for a time. After working a couple of different corporate jobs for several years, he had accumulated enough savings to purchase his first multi-family property. He performed his own property management for several years before his college investing buddy encouraged him to quit his corporate job to begin a start-up. They were both using Excel to manage their rental properties and felt like they could create something that was more appropriate and efficient for the necessary property management tasks.   When they initially started this project, Laurence and his partner thought they would be able to find a software engineer to write the program for them with a stake in the company. They couldn’t find anyone willing to do that, so they took two years to teach themselves how to write the code themselves. I asked the obvious question of, “Why not just hire a property management company?” and Laurence said that they felt that they were giving away their entire profit margin if they chose that route.   I asked Laurence why he has chosen to focus on 3-unit properties and he pointed out that they are very plentiful in Chicago and work for his price-point. We discussed in detail how he evaluates properties and what his investing goals are. We also talked about some of the tactics he uses managing his own properties so that he doesn’t get service phone calls all day, every day. Additionally, we discussed the systems and processes Laurence has in place to perform as an effective landlord.   We then dove into talking about Avail, the software that Laurence and his buddy created. He said the initial goal was to develop it for themselves so they had a more effective portfolio management tool. They wanted it to define a particular process and automate it for investors who considered themselves part-time landlords. Laurence pointed out during their research, they found that about 60% of landlords do not screen potential tenants, so they wanted to develop software to aid in the day-to-day tasks of do-it-yourself landlords. Laurence goes into great detail on the functionality of Avail during our discussion, including many features that benefit both landlords and tenants.   Not only do you want to check out this comprehensive tool for DIY landlording (link provided below), but you also do not want to miss this information-packed episode of the Just Start Real Estate Podcast with Laurence Jankelow! Notable Quotes:   “To this day I love Excel, but it is not appropriate if you want to be a real landlord and grow that business and manage it professionally.”   Laurence Jankelow     “It is a lot harder to build something from scratch than we gave credit to it.”   Laurence Jankelow     “Is this rental going to put money in my pocket at the end of every month?”   Laurence Jankelow     “I find that the landlords that get the 10pm service calls are the ones that leave the property with a lot of deferred maintenance.”   Laurence Jankelow     “We do put a lot of lipstick on our properties, but the mechanics behind it are still good.”   Laurence Jankelow     “You want those processes in place whether you are using software to automate them or not.”   Laurence Jankelow     “Take high-quality photos, write a high-quality description upfront and you have them for life.”   Laurence Jankelow     “I find that property managers are never aligned with what I am trying to do.”   Laurence Jankelow     “I feel that nearly all of the risk in owning rentals involves the tenant-screening process.”   Laurence Jankelow     “We want to build something that is going to help with the operational side, the day-to-day tasks of being a landlord.”   Laurence Jankelow     “We are very tenant-conscious, so we built everything to benefit the them as well.”   Laurence Jankelow   &nb

In this episode, I welcome Josh Cantwell onto the show. Josh is the top residential real estate investor in his community of Northeast Ohio and has been a full-time investor since 2003. Josh has bought and sold over 700+ properties in 25 states since this time and he is the host of several podcasts, including the Accelerated Investor Podcast.   Josh begins by sharing some of his background and how he got into investing. He has raised and managed over $40M of private money that he is utilizing as part of his current deals through one-off deals, private lender loans, and as equity in his 2600 apartment units. But he got started, like so many of us do, by attending a real estate investing boot camp. Being from the greater Cleveland area, they were already seeing a foreclosure crisis with many publicly-traded companies leaving the city, so Josh got his start with foreclosure investing long before the national housing crisis.   Josh spoke in quite a lot of detail about the data that he is seeing that points to the possibility of the COVID-19 pandemic causing another similar situation in the summer of 2021. He compared the policies being observed now to the period of time following Hurricane Erma in 2017 when New York and New Jersey were impacted by this storm. Josh explained that in that case, the banks got ahead of the foreclosure crisis by offering all of the homeowners forbearance agreements. So the hurricane happened and twelve months later, there was a massive spike in foreclosures. Josh, along with many other investors, believe we are headed in this same direction with the pandemic.   I then asked Josh to talk to our listeners about raising money. Many would-be investors use not having enough money or not being able to qualify for loans as an excuse for not getting started. Josh said that being successful at raising money often comes down to a person’s own mindset about money. Josh talked about how reliable real estate investments are and how likely it is for lenders to get a high rate of return with no costs. He talked about approaching people on four different levels: if they can buy a house from you, if they can sell you a house, if they can cheerlead for you or refer you, and if they can lend or invest with you. By thinking this way, everyone you meet can become a potential client or partner.   Since Josh has been coaching other investors since 2006, I asked him to walk us through the eight traits to high achieving entrepreneurs. These traits include such attributes as self-reliance, taking responsibility for your own life, and having clarity about what you want. Seven-figure earners also have a clear idea of what their average, ideal day looks like and focus on a certain framework for getting things done even though their things to-do list may seem endless. We also talked about time management and allocating certain days per week to free-thinking, revenue-building, and buffer or preparation periods.   We talked about the steps to finding private money, marketing, networking at non-real estate events, using technology as a weapon, and so much more! Josh is an incredibly passionate and knowledgeable investor, so you do not want to miss this information-packed episode of the Just Start Real Estate Podcast!   Notable Quotes:   “I’m primarily focused on raising capital and investing in multifamily properties.”   Josh Cantwell     “As a financial planner, I recognized that most of my clients owned real estate.”   Josh Cantwell     “You have to play the game and know what is working today.”   Josh Cantwell     “I’m glad to hear you say that because it makes me feel smart for doing what I am doing.”   Mike Simmons     “If you have something to offer, a product or service, that you think is going to benefit someone, you have a moral obligation to sell it to them.”   Josh Cantwell’s friend     “Tell me one person that is super happy with the stock market. Nobody.”   Josh Cantwell     “What I love about real estate is that if you buy it right, take care of it, manage it, and cash flow it, it’s about the safest investment in the world.”   Josh Cantwell     “With private lending, always talk about your past deals.”   Josh Cantwell     “It is all about follow-up and relationships.”   Josh Cantwell     “Elite entrepreneurs realize no one is coming to their rescue.”   Josh Cantwell     “If you don’t start swimming, you are not going to get to the shore.”   Mike Simmons     “You were just spilling the goods left and right.”   Mike Simmons   Links: Level Jumping: How I Grew My Business to Over $1 Million in Profits in 12 Months Freeland Ventures The Flip System Accelerated Investor Podcast Return on Investments Just Start Real Estate JSRE on Facebook Mike on Facebook Mike on Instagram Mike on LinkedIn Mike on Twi

For this episode, I welcome Bill Manassero to the show. Bill is a real estate investor, entrepreneur, and host of the Old Dawg’s REI Network Podcast, a podcast for people 50 years and older who see real estate investing as a means to fund their retirement years and create a legacy for their family. Prior to forming the Old Dawg’s REI Network, Bill and his family were missionaries to orphaned, abandoned, and at-risk children living on the streets of Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Before that, he was a professional musician and spent over 25 years in business, on both the corporate and entrepreneur side.  A few highlights of his career include meeting Ronald Reagan, working with actor Jimmy Stewart, being interviewed by Oprah, and having CNN produce a documentary on his work in Haiti entitled “Rescued.”   Bill’s story is absolutely fascinating and we dive in by discussing his 25 years of business background, which included working in sales and marketing in the automotive and airline industries in Southern California, launching the Nissan infinity division, and then moving on to the technology sector right as the internet took off. At that time, he even bumped into Mark Cuban who was streaming a variety of games via mics in front of radios.   Shortly after the bubble burst and Bill felt called to get into ministry. He always enjoyed traveling but usually, that was for work and meant being away from his family – so what better way to take the family on the road with you – as a family rock band! They partnered with Christian organizations and toured together. During this time, they sponsored a child from Haiti and his daughter became obsessed with learning about the country. Little did they know that soon enough they would be visiting Haiti to perform.   The trip had a profound impact not just on Bill’s daughter, but the whole family, and Haiti eventually became their new home. They sold everything they owned in the US and returned to Haiti to take care of the kids. Initially, they of course had no idea what they were doing and where to start, but eventually, their efforts grew into an entire organization, Child Hope International, and they invested first in a boy’s home, then a girl’s home, and then a guest house, and even a school.   After being struck by a devastating earthquake, Haiti was in the news across the globe which resulted in Oprah visiting and CNN producing a documentary entitled ‘Rescued’ which was all about their efforts. Slowly Bill’s children had grown up and started to return to the US to go to university and Bill’s wife was diagnosed with cancer. So, jointly they made the decision to pass Child Hope International to the next generation and make plans to return to the US together.   This left Bill wondering what to do next with his life. He knew he wanted to diversify his investments before retirement, but he wasn’t sure how. After an extensive period of research and reading Rich Dad Poor Dad among other books, Bill had established that real estate investing was the route to go down. He did as much research as he could to develop his plan. He decided to focus on turn-key properties and settled on Atlanta and Memphis as the first areas to make a purchase. After a short trip to both locations, he returned with 3 properties to call his own.   Like us all, Bill was learning as he was going along. Some properties were making more money than others and property management turned out to be challenging at times. At last, Bill got himself a mentor who recommended starting a podcast to share his experience of real estate investing for retirement – and after some initial resistance, he went for it. The podcast has over time provided Bill with a large amount of networking opportunities which has certainly helped to open more doors for him in the industry.   Bill then shares that he did have the 1000 doors goal and he had reached a staggering 736 doors on the day of recording this episode – a real surprise seeing what a humble person Bill is. Bill shared further that the contacts he was gaining from networking allowed him to do larger projects, which is what got him closer to his 1000 door goal.   We then move on to discuss property management. Bill outsources the property management entirely to others. He doesn’t really have a choice in this matter since a lot of his properties are not exactly in his backyard. Over the years he realized that the biggest factor for him when recruiting property managers is transparency.   Bill also briefly shares his experience with short-term rentals. He has three that are doing really well in this market. Bill was initially affected by COVID-related cancellations but then managed to recover very quickly through a few changes in his marketing language.   We then discuss his current projects and what he feels particularly excited about. Bill shares how he has recently gotten into the senior living sector through a con

In this episode, I have the opportunity to interview successful investor, 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.   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   &n

For this episode, I welcome fellow real estate investor, Andrew Holmes. Andrew built the #1 flipping team in Chicago and completed over 850 deals in the Chicago market. He owns over 250 rentals and more than 2 million in assets. He started the Chicago Real Estate Investors Association which has become the #1 Real Estate Association in the US. Andrew has worked with over 450 investors in the Chicagoland area helping them develop a rental portfolio of more than 2800 rentals. Andrew and I started investing in real estate around the same time - he absolutely killed it and I am absolutely thrilled to learn about just how he did it in today’s interview.   Andrew first shares his background story and how he got his real estate license back in college with money designated to pay for his studies. He shares further along in the interview how this is something he has never even told his parents about!   We then moved on to discussing how Andrew got started seriously investing at the age of 32. We discuss his first year in business where he completed an astonishing 10 flips. Having done two flips myself in the same year, I was extremely interested to learn about just HOW he did it without burning out. Andrew then explains how he made the first investment himself, before securing further financial investment from two business contacts. The growth just continued exponentially after that.   Together we then dive into discussing the sheer operational challenges of rehabbing this number of properties at the same time and Andrew shares how he got started with a less-than-perfect Jack-of-all-trades contractor - and how he slowly transitioned out of moonlighting and into working with proper contractors. Lucky for him he realized that the stress of working all night just wasn’t worth it after about the third flip. Andrew then shares that as the number of flips he completed grew, the profits started to fall.   We discussed how his parents have influenced his outlook on life. Having both been hard-working, well-qualified surgeons, Andrew’s parents saw themselves as true professionals and they expected nothing less than that from Andrew himself. Andrew however saw two people who worked extremely hard and didn’t have all that much to show for it. Andrew made it his goal to show his parents that he will also be successful but in his own way. He describes how as a child he has always had big dreams and has more often than not been considered crazy for even talking about it.   Eventually we discuss how the constant pressure of keeping up and the lack of security was making Andrew feel less than safe and his focus shifted to buying wholesale. Andrew shares the super simple formula he used for transitioning to owning rental properties - the 2-5-7 formula. Listen to the episode to get all the details on how it works. He told me how he started with just a handful of properties and then scaled it up from there.   We then move on to the topic of choosing the right properties to invest in. Again, Andrew shares some gold nuggets here about the exact criteria he uses to assess whether or not a property is worth investing in or not. That’s the exact system that got him from 3k a month cash flow to 100k a month cash flow.   We talked about the logistics of managing 260 rental properties. Andrew manages the properties in-house with just full-time managers, 1.5 rent collectors, and a team of contractors. He gives us an important reminder to never buy individual properties outside of your area, as this adds unnecessary workload.   Lastly, we discuss the importance of networking. Andrew shares how just studying the information just isn’t enough and how important surrounding yourself with people that are actually DOING IT has been for him - and as always I absolutely agree with his assessment. Don’t miss this episode of Just Start Real Estate that is filled with practical and incredibly actionable advice from uber-investor, Andrew Holmes! Notable Quotes:   “I was born in the US but most of my life I’ve grown up in India. You don’t learn DIY in India.” Andrew Holmes   “From a small fire, I jumped into a forest fire doing that many flips.” Andrew Holmes   “My family found out I was flipping houses because I did it so long and had some success that I was being interviewed and my family read about me in the paper.” Mike Simmons   “I didn’t tell my wife that I was doing this - I just didn’t want to fail.” Andrew Holmes   “When my parents didn’t have an answer I got a whack on the head ‘Go Study.’” Andrew Holmes   “I felt scared. Even though I made good money. I always felt scared. If I went on vacation I felt guilty and I was sick and tired of this feeling. I wanted some security in life.” Andrew Holmes   “I tried being poor and I didn’t like it.” Andrew Holmes   “I thought I was investing, but in fact I was just trading properties.” Andrew Holmes   “My goal always was t