Thank you for your hard work today, Connor. I will see you tomorrow. Here are your tips, my new boss said to me after my first day as a busboy at Outback Steakhouse. I quickly drove home to tell my parents how my day went and my plans for the money.
Hey mom, dad, look! I made $25 at work todayonly a few more days until I can get a new Xbox game! I exclaimed. Great job, Connor, but dont forget to save some of that money. Pay yourself first. my dad responded. Unfortunately, young, dumb Connor missed the subtle hint from his dad and took all of his newly acquired cash and stuffed it in the shoebox labeled Fun Moneyand none of into the non-existent Savings shoebox. Years later, I of course now know the importance of having a strong savings rate and paying myself first, but that came after a few years of spending every dollar that I came in touch with. Sadly, my dads sound advice fell on deaf ears, and it was only after I read the classic Rich Dad Poor Dad: What the Rich Teach Their Kids About Money That the Poor and Middle Class Do Not! (congrats if this is the one millionth time you have seen this book recommended!) that the pay yourself first concept finally clicked with me. But there is another concept I would like to share with you and that is paying yourself first and last! What is Paying Yourself First? First off, I want to first discuss the concept of paying yourself first. This just simply means taking a set amount or set percentage of the money you earn and stashing it away in your savings BEFORE budgeting for your bills and life expenses. This way, rather than hoping there is extra money at the end of the month to put into savings, you have taken care of savings as priority number one. Lets be honest with ourselves: There is never anything left over at the end of the month in savings. That money is always spent on that extra happy hour, coffee, or impulse Amazon purchase (my old vice). Related: 12 Reasons Youre Poor Now, let me tackle the thought running through the heads of those new to the pay yourself first concept: But I dont have any room left to save. For most people, this is just an excuse. There is always some amount of money in your budget that can be stowed away in savingsyoure just not willing to make a small sacrifice to your lifestyle. Start with setting aside a small amount in each paycheck. It could be as little as 5% or $50 dollars, anything to get started. In the classic bookThe Richest Man in Babylon, it is recommended to save 10% of your income. Now that the money is out of sight and out of your checking account, I promise you will not miss it or even notice it being gone! The goal, of course, is to work to increase that savings rate. Some people have a 50%+ savings rate! Dont believe me? Start listening to the BiggerPockets Money Podcastand see for yourself. How to Pay Yourself First Now that the concept of paying yourself first has been properly established, lets discuss how you should go about actually paying yourself first. The easiest and most powerful way to handle paying yourself first is to have a portion of your direct deposit from your employer go directly to your savings account. To set this up, just go to your HR department with routing and account number in hand and ask to add more than one deposit. The next best way is to set up an automatic withdrawal for the day you get paid to go from your checking account to your savings account. This is simple and can be done from most mobile bank apps, but if you have trouble, just call up your bank directly. The third and least effective way is to manually transfer money to your savings every time you get paid. This is the least effective way because it requires discipline. Just save yourself the headache and set up an automatic deposit. For those of you who get paid in cash, I suggest the envelope system. Define the amount or percentage you will save every time you get paid and stash that in an envelope and store it someplace safe. Once or twice a month, deposit that cash into a savings account. Bonus: Use a savings account at a different bank than the bank you use for your everyday checking account. That way, you wont be tempted to transfer money from your savings to your checking account for that emergency taco Tuesday trip. As for what bank to use, I suggest finding one that pays a high interest rate. I use Ally, and they pay 1.85% right now. Compared to .01% at most other banks, that is a LOT of extra money you earn in interest. Related: 4 Steps to Buy the Car You Want Within the Budget You Can Afford Pay Yourself Last So, we have paying yourself first covered, and you are now taking steps to increase your savings rate so you can get that first house hack, invest more, or pay off those student loans. But you can kick things into high gear by also paying yourself last! Your old method of savings was hoping there was some extra money at the end of the month and then saving that. Well, guess what? Now that youreon a budget and taking your savings seriously, there may just be some of that money left over at the end of each month! So the day before your next paycheck, take that extra $10, $50or, who knows, maybe even $100and instead of taking yourself out to a nice dinner or buying your 28th pair of shoes, transfer that money straight into your savings account! After some time. this becomes a game and you start to see how much you have left at the end of each pay period to save. Guess what? There is even an app to pay yourself last automatically called Digit. Digit tracks your spending habits, takes little chunks of money each day, and transfers that to a separate account. At the end of each week or month, you can look at the balance and send the money to savings, your IRA, to pay off debts, or even to help fund that bachelor or bachelorette party in Vegas! Digit is an easy way to automate paying yourself last. What My Strategy Looks Like Lastly, I wanted to share my strategy with you since it is slightly unorthodox, but it is basically completely automated. I manage all of the sales at BiggerPockets, so my income is often variable since I make commissions. I have designed my lifestyle to live off of my base salary, and all the commissions I earn are just gravy on top. I have a set dollar amount sent to my everyday checking account to live off of until my next paycheck. This money is for food, gas, and entertainment. Then, I calculate all of my monthly fixed expenses, such as rent, insurance, car payment (my least favorite), student loans, etc., and divide that number in half. That dollar amount is then directly deposited into a different checking account. All of my bills are set automatic withdrawal from this checking account. This way, I never have to worry about paying them on time or having enough money to pay my car insurance after a night out on the town. It all happens automatically. Next, my retirement savings are directly deposited into my accounts. And lastly, the rest of my paycheck is sent straight to my Ally savings account. I budget a solid amount for my savings on the weeks I dont get commission payouts, but on the days I do get commission payouts, the amount sent to savings is significantly higher than normal. Of course, I add on paying myself last with the extra money in my everyday checking at the end of each pay period. I really like this method because I have the same budget for food, gas, and fun week to week, I never have to worry about paying bills on time, and my savings is automated with the added bonus of having a significant amount stashed to savings when those commission checks come in! Alright, I know I just threw a lot of tips at you, but I think there are three actionable takeaways from this post: Create a budget and include savings as the first amount taken from your paycheck. Automate savings. Find a way to also save any leftover money you have at the end of the month, whether manually or with a tool like Digit. As you can see, I have come a long way from that young, dumb Connor stuffing his shoebox full of cash to buy the newest video game, and I hope that this will help you become the financially savvy and secure person you deserve to be. How do you automate savings? Comment below! https://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/pay-yourself-first-and-last
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Thank you for your hard work today, Connor. I will see you tomorrow. Here are your tips, my new boss said to me after my first day as a busboy at Outback Steakhouse. I quickly drove home to tell my parents how my day went and my plans for the money.
Hey mom, dad, look! I made $25 at work todayonly a few more days until I can get a new Xbox game! I exclaimed. Great job, Connor, but dont forget to save some of that money. Pay yourself first. my dad responded. Unfortunately, young, dumb Connor missed the subtle hint from his dad and took all of his newly acquired cash and stuffed it in the shoebox labeled Fun Moneyand none of into the non-existent Savings shoebox. Years later, I of course now know the importance of having a strong savings rate and paying myself first, but that came after a few years of spending every dollar that I came in touch with. Sadly, my dads sound advice fell on deaf ears, and it was only after I read the classic Rich Dad Poor Dad: What the Rich Teach Their Kids About Money That the Poor and Middle Class Do Not! (congrats if this is the one millionth time you have seen this book recommended!) that the pay yourself first concept finally clicked with me. But there is another concept I would like to share with you and that is paying yourself first and last! What is Paying Yourself First? First off, I want to first discuss the concept of paying yourself first. This just simply means taking a set amount or set percentage of the money you earn and stashing it away in your savings BEFORE budgeting for your bills and life expenses. This way, rather than hoping there is extra money at the end of the month to put into savings, you have taken care of savings as priority number one. Lets be honest with ourselves: There is never anything left over at the end of the month in savings. That money is always spent on that extra happy hour, coffee, or impulse Amazon purchase (my old vice). Related: 12 Reasons Youre Poor Now, let me tackle the thought running through the heads of those new to the pay yourself first concept: But I dont have any room left to save. For most people, this is just an excuse. There is always some amount of money in your budget that can be stowed away in savingsyoure just not willing to make a small sacrifice to your lifestyle. Start with setting aside a small amount in each paycheck. It could be as little as 5% or $50 dollars, anything to get started. In the classic bookThe Richest Man in Babylon, it is recommended to save 10% of your income. Now that the money is out of sight and out of your checking account, I promise you will not miss it or even notice it being gone! The goal, of course, is to work to increase that savings rate. Some people have a 50%+ savings rate! Dont believe me? Start listening to the BiggerPockets Money Podcastand see for yourself. How to Pay Yourself First Now that the concept of paying yourself first has been properly established, lets discuss how you should go about actually paying yourself first. The easiest and most powerful way to handle paying yourself first is to have a portion of your direct deposit from your employer go directly to your savings account. To set this up, just go to your HR department with routing and account number in hand and ask to add more than one deposit. The next best way is to set up an automatic withdrawal for the day you get paid to go from your checking account to your savings account. This is simple and can be done from most mobile bank apps, but if you have trouble, just call up your bank directly. The third and least effective way is to manually transfer money to your savings every time you get paid. This is the least effective way because it requires discipline. Just save yourself the headache and set up an automatic deposit. For those of you who get paid in cash, I suggest the envelope system. Define the amount or percentage you will save every time you get paid and stash that in an envelope and store it someplace safe. Once or twice a month, deposit that cash into a savings account. Bonus: Use a savings account at a different bank than the bank you use for your everyday checking account. That way, you wont be tempted to transfer money from your savings to your checking account for that emergency taco Tuesday trip. As for what bank to use, I suggest finding one that pays a high interest rate. I use Ally, and they pay 1.85% right now. Compared to .01% at most other banks, that is a LOT of extra money you earn in interest. Related: 4 Steps to Buy the Car You Want Within the Budget You Can Afford Pay Yourself Last So, we have paying yourself first covered, and you are now taking steps to increase your savings rate so you can get that first house hack, invest more, or pay off those student loans. But you can kick things into high gear by also paying yourself last! Your old method of savings was hoping there was some extra money at the end of the month and then saving that. Well, guess what? Now that youreon a budget and taking your savings seriously, there may just be some of that money left over at the end of each month! So the day before your next paycheck, take that extra $10, $50or, who knows, maybe even $100and instead of taking yourself out to a nice dinner or buying your 28th pair of shoes, transfer that money straight into your savings account! After some time. this becomes a game and you start to see how much you have left at the end of each pay period to save. Guess what? There is even an app to pay yourself last automatically called Digit. Digit tracks your spending habits, takes little chunks of money each day, and transfers that to a separate account. At the end of each week or month, you can look at the balance and send the money to savings, your IRA, to pay off debts, or even to help fund that bachelor or bachelorette party in Vegas! Digit is an easy way to automate paying yourself last. What My Strategy Looks Like Lastly, I wanted to share my strategy with you since it is slightly unorthodox, but it is basically completely automated. I manage all of the sales at BiggerPockets, so my income is often variable since I make commissions. I have designed my lifestyle to live off of my base salary, and all the commissions I earn are just gravy on top. I have a set dollar amount sent to my everyday checking account to live off of until my next paycheck. This money is for food, gas, and entertainment. Then, I calculate all of my monthly fixed expenses, such as rent, insurance, car payment (my least favorite), student loans, etc., and divide that number in half. That dollar amount is then directly deposited into a different checking account. All of my bills are set automatic withdrawal from this checking account. This way, I never have to worry about paying them on time or having enough money to pay my car insurance after a night out on the town. It all happens automatically. Next, my retirement savings are directly deposited into my accounts. And lastly, the rest of my paycheck is sent straight to my Ally savings account. I budget a solid amount for my savings on the weeks I dont get commission payouts, but on the days I do get commission payouts, the amount sent to savings is significantly higher than normal. Of course, I add on paying myself last with the extra money in my everyday checking at the end of each pay period. I really like this method because I have the same budget for food, gas, and fun week to week, I never have to worry about paying bills on time, and my savings is automated with the added bonus of having a significant amount stashed to savings when those commission checks come in! Alright, I know I just threw a lot of tips at you, but I think there are three actionable takeaways from this post: Create a budget and include savings as the first amount taken from your paycheck. Automate savings. Find a way to also save any leftover money you have at the end of the month, whether manually or with a tool like Digit. As you can see, I have come a long way from that young, dumb Connor stuffing his shoebox full of cash to buy the newest video game, and I hope that this will help you become the financially savvy and secure person you deserve to be. How do you automate savings? Comment below! https://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/pay-yourself-first-and-last After 30 years of investing in real estate, Im often asked what my biggest mistakes were or whether I would do anything differently if I could do it all over. The funny thing is that its never been the actual real estate itself that proved to be the biggest challenge; its usually been something else.
The 5 Biggest Mistakes Ive Made in My Real Estate Investing CareerMacro Picture One thing that I overlooked when I first started out was the macroeconomic picture of the real estate I was investing in and where it was located. By that, I mean I didnt even really look at things like population and job growth. Looking back now, many of my cash flowing rentals are in an area that has pretty much peaked in fact, job growth is pretty stagnant. I just started investing in the county where I lived. Sure, my numbers worked as far as the rent being more than my payment, but it wasnt until I started investing nationally and looking at various emerging markets that my perspective shifted. I realized you can swim with the current and invest in a market thats poised to appreciate with a strong rental market due to increases in things like jobs and population. Going it Alone To be quite honest, Im embarrassed to say that I was a bit of a loner for the first 20 years of my real estate investing career. Little did I know that I didnt know everything, and it wasnt until I started networking more and joined some real estate groups that my real estate investing business catapulted. It was from the shared knowledge and strategies. It was like a big brain trust and pool of resources from folks who had already been there and done it (much like BiggerPockets). I do wish I had found those groups and resources earlier. Related: 10 Lethal Mistakes to Avoid on Your First Real Estate Investment Starting Late Im not sure if its ever too late to start investing in real estate. My father was in his early 70s when he bought his first three investment properties, mostly due to my mom not letting him. Although he was handy, she just didnt want to hear about it. Her father had some rentals in the past and always complained about the tenants. Years later, after their divorce, pop finally got some rentals, and he loved it. It actually gave him purpose (and cash flow) in retirement. For me, I started when I was 29. My initial goal was to acquire one house per year. In a two year period, I bought 16 houses, and then it quickly rose to 40 units. Next, my goal was 100houses, but that was before I discovered note investing. My one buddy had over 150 houses by the time he was 30, but he was also lucky that he started at age 18. Although I wish I had started investing earlier, my next mistake was probably not using the right leverage. Not Using Leverage In the beginning, I just worked two jobs and then some. My theory was if I worked like an idiot and lived off of one job, I could save the rest. What a tough way to get ahead. Yeah, it works, but I wish I knew then what I know now. I thought you had to save all of the money and then go out and find a deal, but its really the other way around. Go find a deal, and the money will find you. If you already have a good deal, just find a money partner, whether its private money, hard money, or a traditional bank. I thought I needed my own money, but this just goes to show that at the time I didnt have enough financial and real estate investing knowledge. Related: The 3 Dumbest Mistakes Buy & Hold Real Estate Investors Make Theres an old saying about how its better to learn from the mistakes made by others. Of course, you cant be afraid to try and fail yourself, as long as you learn along the way. But probably the only time I really lost money was when I gave up control. Giving Up Control What Im really referring to are those deals Ive invested in, where I didnt have some type of management control of where the deal would go. Many things can go wrong when investing in real estate, but its really the way we react to situations that is most important. If something throws you for a loop, try to read up on it at first. Then, try to mention your situation to those with more experience who may have encountered something like it already. Most importantly, dont be afraid to ask for help, as well as offer help to others. Over the years, Ive tried to help others as often as I can, and the karma from that has helped me out tenfold whenever Ive been in a jam. Were republishing this article to help out our newer readers. So, what are some of your biggest real estate investing mistakes? Let me know with a comment! https://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/2016/04/21/my-biggest-mistakes-in-real-estate-investing/ After 30 years of investing in real estate, Im often asked what my biggest mistakes were or whether I would do anything differently if I could do it all over. The funny thing is that its never been the actual real estate itself that proved to be the biggest challenge; its usually been something else.
The 5 Biggest Mistakes Ive Made in My Real Estate Investing CareerMacro Picture One thing that I overlooked when I first started out was the macroeconomic picture of the real estate I was investing in and where it was located. By that, I mean I didnt even really look at things like population and job growth. Looking back now, many of my cash flowing rentals are in an area that has pretty much peaked in fact, job growth is pretty stagnant. I just started investing in the county where I lived. Sure, my numbers worked as far as the rent being more than my payment, but it wasnt until I started investing nationally and looking at various emerging markets that my perspective shifted. I realized you can swim with the current and invest in a market thats poised to appreciate with a strong rental market due to increases in things like jobs and population. Going it Alone To be quite honest, Im embarrassed to say that I was a bit of a loner for the first 20 years of my real estate investing career. Little did I know that I didnt know everything, and it wasnt until I started networking more and joined some real estate groups that my real estate investing business catapulted. It was from the shared knowledge and strategies. It was like a big brain trust and pool of resources from folks who had already been there and done it (much like BiggerPockets). I do wish I had found those groups and resources earlier. Related: 10 Lethal Mistakes to Avoid on Your First Real Estate Investment Starting Late Im not sure if its ever too late to start investing in real estate. My father was in his early 70s when he bought his first three investment properties, mostly due to my mom not letting him. Although he was handy, she just didnt want to hear about it. Her father had some rentals in the past and always complained about the tenants. Years later, after their divorce, pop finally got some rentals, and he loved it. It actually gave him purpose (and cash flow) in retirement. For me, I started when I was 29. My initial goal was to acquire one house per year. In a two year period, I bought 16 houses, and then it quickly rose to 40 units. Next, my goal was 100houses, but that was before I discovered note investing. My one buddy had over 150 houses by the time he was 30, but he was also lucky that he started at age 18. Although I wish I had started investing earlier, my next mistake was probably not using the right leverage. Not Using Leverage In the beginning, I just worked two jobs and then some. My theory was if I worked like an idiot and lived off of one job, I could save the rest. What a tough way to get ahead. Yeah, it works, but I wish I knew then what I know now. I thought you had to save all of the money and then go out and find a deal, but its really the other way around. Go find a deal, and the money will find you. If you already have a good deal, just find a money partner, whether its private money, hard money, or a traditional bank. I thought I needed my own money, but this just goes to show that at the time I didnt have enough financial and real estate investing knowledge. Related: The 3 Dumbest Mistakes Buy & Hold Real Estate Investors Make Theres an old saying about how its better to learn from the mistakes made by others. Of course, you cant be afraid to try and fail yourself, as long as you learn along the way. But probably the only time I really lost money was when I gave up control. Giving Up Control What Im really referring to are those deals Ive invested in, where I didnt have some type of management control of where the deal would go. Many things can go wrong when investing in real estate, but its really the way we react to situations that is most important. If something throws you for a loop, try to read up on it at first. Then, try to mention your situation to those with more experience who may have encountered something like it already. Most importantly, dont be afraid to ask for help, as well as offer help to others. Over the years, Ive tried to help others as often as I can, and the karma from that has helped me out tenfold whenever Ive been in a jam. Were republishing this article to help out our newer readers. So, what are some of your biggest real estate investing mistakes? Let me know with a comment! https://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/2016/04/21/my-biggest-mistakes-in-real-estate-investing/ Need to upgrade a rental unit on budget? Here are 13improvements landlords can make for under $500 each.
12 Rental Property Improvements You Can Make for Under $5001. Paint You may not be able to paint a whole house for $500, but you can enhance key rooms and create accent walls. Trending colors this year may include grays, beiges, greens, and pinks. 2. Change Out Flooring The same applies to flooring. In cheap rentals, you may be able to use vinyl or focus on small, key areas of flooring. Putting new flooring in small entry areas and bathrooms or replacing the carpet in that one ugly bedroom could make a big difference in renting quickly and for more money. 3. Patch the Roof Roof leaks can cause major havoc with rentals. They can quickly deteriorate your asset, cause ballooning repair bills, add to the maintenance interaction burden with tenants, and can lead to damage of renter belongings, which you may be on the hook for. In many cases you dont need a new roof, just patches. 4. Add Smart Home Tech Add some trendy new tech to make renters feel great about their choice. That could be smart locks or smart thermostats, better wifi, or new Google Home devices. 5. Bring in a Bar You may be able to expand countertops or bring in a standalone bar, which really adds to the excitement and emotional appeal of a place. 6. Resurface Cabinets Replacing kitchen and bathroom cabinets can be expensive and a lot of work. Instead, look at options for resurfacing existing ones. 7. Add a Backsplash Kitchen backsplashes can make a massive difference in the appeal and perceived value of a home. 8. Consider Flex Office Space Working from home is fast becoming the new norm. Many remote workers soon find that working from the sofa isnt as effective as they expected. You may not want to reduce bedroom counts by turning one into a home office. However, you may be able to create some flex space with a cabinet, pantry, or Murphy bed that enables quick changes between daily living space and the office. 9. Finish the Garage Finished garage spaces add a big wow factor and more value. Even on a tight budget, you may be able to finish walls, add flooring, install storage, or put in office furniture. 10. Replace Hardware Replacing front door and cabinet hardware can have one of the best returns of any home improvement. 11. Stage the Home Staging can be powerful for marketing rentals. You can do this virtually for less than $500or bring in some extra furniture or rented furniture temporarily. 12. Replace Appliances Appliances are a big deal to renters. Replace microwaves or dishwashers that are broken, consider adding a washer-dryer, or lease new appliances as a staging move. You can choose whether or not to include the appliances for the duration of the lease. Were republishing this article to help out our newer readers. Which of these would you consider implementing on your rental? What would you add to this list? Let us know your thoughts with a comment. https://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/rental-property-improvements-500/ They started investing in real estate 30 years ago, with so much hope for their future. A rental house here, a duplex there, and soon they had a rental portfolio that would make anyone proud. They actively managed their properties and worked to make sure they were operating at peak efficiency. Then, several years ago, the husband and wife both retired from their day jobs and eased into retirementfunded by their rental income and social security.
This year, they are filing bankruptcy and losing a majority of their properties to foreclosure. Sadly, this is not a made-up example; this is the story of one of my friends parents, and they are not alone. In fact, 95% of the units Ive purchased have been foreclosures that belonged to landlords who failed and lost their properties to the bank. Most of these people, I would guess, will never again be active in real estate investing. They worked hard for years to build a financial future for themselves, only to see it come tragically crashing down around them, dashing any hopes for lasting wealth creation. This begs the question: why? If real estate is as good an investment as we all (on BiggerPockets) make it out to be, why do so many real estate investors fail?Perhaps more importantly, how do you avoid this possibility in your own life? This question that has been swimming around in my mind for some time now. Each week on the BiggerPockets Podcast, I ask our guest, What is it that sets successful investors apart from those who fail? The answers are as diverse as the personalities of the guests with whom weve spoken. So what is it? Im intrigued by this idea and scared that I may end up the same way. After all, as Mark Cuban famously said, Everyones a genius in a bull market. Is that what real estate is? Do some people simply get lucky, while others dont? Lets look at some of the possible reasons rental property investors go broke and explore the things you can do to protect yourself. 1. Too Much Risk? First, lets talk about the elephant in the room: risk. Risk is inherent in every investment there is. After all, you know the phrase more risk, more reward. However, there is obviously a tipping point at which the risk becomes too great, as my friends parents discovered. Perhaps its overleveraging properties by obtaining too many low-down deals that werent deals after all, or maybe its trying to buy too many, properties too fast. Maybe its constant refinancing of the properties, pulling out all the equity and investing it in more and more deals. Whatever the reason for the bankruptcy, the risk clearly became too great, and these investors lost. Related: What Sets Apart Successful Real Estate Investors From Those Who Fail, Quit, or Never Get Started? As rock n roller Nick Cave sang, If youre gonna dine with them cannibals, sooner or later, darling, youre gonna get eaten. So how might someone prevent this? Avoid risk altogether? Invest only in 100% safe deals? Of course not. Risk is required for entrepreneurs, but learning to navigate that risk will define your success. Like a team of white-water rafters braving the wild waves, you cant always see what the future holds, where the rocks hide just below the surface, or when the next waterfall will appear. However, by having the right people in the boat with you, keeping an eye out for potential dangers, working to avoid potential problem areas, and wearing the proper life jacket, you can avoid a premature death. I caution anyone reading this chapter, including me, to think of risk as a dangerous but powerful tooland to never forget that this tool cuts both ways. 2. Not Enough Education? Far too many people jump into buying real estate before understanding what they are doing. They simply decide that real estate is the right path for them and start purchasing properties. There is a big difference between being busy and being effective, and this is the case with a lot of real estate investors; they believe that because they are buying properties, they are going to succeed. Never mind that they bought the wrong property in the wrong area with the wrong financing. The solution to this problem is proper education. Im not talking about the get rich quick, late-night television kind of education. Im talking about taking the time needed to build an educational foundation that can support your investing future. The mission of BiggerPockets is to help individuals build this foundation through a variety of methods, including our forums, podcast, blog, and this very book you are reading. Furthermore, I encourage you to continue learning through library books, meetups, and other low-cost resources. You dont need to spend tens of thousands of dollars for an education. Information has been democratized, so you simply need to reach out and grab it. No one can do it for you! 3. Not Enough Analysis? When I first began investing in real estate, I thought I knew what I was doing, but I made some big mistakes, because I didnt do a careful enough analysis. Had I continued on that path, I would have been in the same boat as my friends parents. You see, so many people buy properties without doing the right math. As I often say, Without the right math going into an investment, youll never get the right profit coming out of it. The future is impossible to know, but with solid analysis, its much easier to predict. Well talk a lot more about analysis throughout this book, and I would encourage you to look at these sections with the reverence the topic deserves. Bad math makes for bad investments! Are You Working On Your Business or In Your Business? Is real estate your investment or your hobby? I believe one of the greatest reasons investors fail is that they dont treat their business like a business. They never develop systems to help them as they grow.They treat their tenants like friends.They dont create clear policies for finding good tenants.They simply approach investing like a church picnic, and it shows. If you want to avoid failing, treat your rental property business the same way a CEO would look at any other business, because that is what it is. Monitor your businesss health, hire the right people to do the right jobs, and continually find ways to improve your bottom line to create a long-lasting business. Related: Newbies Beware: Failing to Adjust to Market Tides Could Leave You High & Dry (or Underwater) So Why Do They Fail? A real estate investor may fail for a variety of reasons. However, in my limited time on this planet, Ive seen the four mistakes I just listed played out time and time again in the lives of those who ultimately failed in their investments. It breaks my heart to see someone so excited about what real estate could do only to lose it all in a foreclosure or bankruptcy. Dont be that person. If you want to avoid losing all the hard work you are putting in (or all the hard work you are about to put in), pay attention to the following four points: Understand that risk is a powerful but dangerous tool, so tread cautiously.Build a solid educational foundation for yourself before getting in too deep.Dont skimp on the math. Always understand the numbers for any property you buy.Work on your business, not in it. Treat your investments like a businesswhich they are. Were republishing this article to help out our newer readers. How do you mitigate your risk of failure in real estate? Let me know with a comment! https://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/why-investors-fail Think getting a loan for an investment property will be as easy as your home mortgage? Think again.
Lenders are far more strict in their underwriting of investment properties and require more money down. Why? Simple: Borrowers will always default on their investment property loan before they default on their home mortgage. With higher risk comes higher pricing, lower LTVs (loan-to-value ratios), and generally more runaround. Heres what new real estate investors need to know about how investment loans differ from homeowner mortgages. Lower LTV Plan on having to put down at least 20% of the purchase price if youre buying an investment property. There are exceptions, of course (most notably for house hacking, which well delve into later on). By and large, however, plan on putting down 20-40% of the purchase price. The good news is that you wont have to worry about mortgage insurancebut thats really the only good news. Some conventional loan programs for investment properties allow for 80% LTV, although you should know going in that its a best-case scenario. You can also explore real estate crowdfunding websites, which tend to be more expensive than conventional loans, but may be more flexible. Depending on the lender and loan program, you might also find that pricing goes down alongside LTV. In other words, if youre willing to put down more money, you may secure a lower interest rate and lower fees. As a final note, plan on needing at least three months payments as a liquid cash reserve. Related: The Comprehensive Guide for Financing Your Very First Real Estate Deal Pricing It will be higher. The end. Alright, theres a little more to know. Plan on both the interest rate being higher and the upfront lender fees being higher. On paper, conventional lenders often quote that their investment property loans are only 0.25-0.5% more expensive than their homeowner loans. In my experience, it never turns out that way. Expect to add 1-3 percentage points more than an owner-occupied loan rate. That means that if a lender charges 4% interest for homeowner loans, youll likely pay 5-7% interest for investment loans. And dont forget points. Lenders charge up-front fees for mortgage loans, and one point is equal to one percent of the total loan amount. These obviously add up quickly. It just gets more expensive from there, as you get away from conventional lenders and toward community banks or crowdfunding websites. Credit Credit matters, of course, although not as decisively as in homeowner lending. If your credit score isnt perfect, youll still have options; theyll just cost you more. A score below 740 will spell higher interest rates, higher lender fees, and lower LTVs. The lower your credit score, the more you can expect to cough up at the table and in ongoing payments. For borrowers with mediocre credit, conventional loans may not be an option. Still, investment property financing is often based more on the collateral (the property) than you as a borrower. Remember, lenders know that investors are far more likely to default than homeowners, so theyve already built some extra caution into the loan programs in the form of lower LTVs. While a retail lender for homeowners asks themselves, How likely is this borrower to default, investment lenders also ask themselves, Can we still recover our money if this borrower defaults? Limitations on Mortgages Your options start dwindling, the more mortgages you have on your credit report. Once you have four mortgages on your credit, many conventional lenders wont touch you anymore. There is a program, however, introduced by Fannie Mae in 2009 to help spur investment that allows 5-10 mortgages to be on a borrowers credit. The program requires six months payments held as a liquid reserve at the time of settlement. It requires at least 25% down for single-family homes and 30% down for 2-4 unit properties. But with any late mortgage payments within the last year or any bankruptcies or foreclosures on your record, youre persona non-grata. Theres also a hard limit of a 720+ credit score for borrowers who already have six or more mortgages. Own More Than 10Properties? Your options are limited. Small community banks are an option because many keep their loans within their own portfolio. These are a good starting place for investors. Commercial lenders sometimes lend blanket loans, secured against multiple properties. But if you go this route, be sure to ask what happens if you want to sell only one of the properties in the blanket or umbrella loan. Seller financing is always an option if you can convince the seller to take on the headache (and risk). However, most sellers arent interested in becoming your bank. Hard money lenders are great for flips but usually terrible for long-term rentals. Theyre simply too expensive. Look into crowdfunding websitesnew ones pop up all the time and are often unafraid of lending to investors with multiple properties. And, of course, you can great creative. Perhaps you can get a HELOC on your primary residence? Or maybe your friends and family want to invest money toward your next rental? House Hacking If all this borrowing talk is starting to get tedious, why not skip investment loans altogether? You can borrow an owner-occupied mortgage for buildings with up to four units, with cheap interest rates and low (3-5%) down payments. You can even use FHA or VA financing to do it! The idea is you move into one of the units, withyour rents from neighboring units enough to cover your mortgage. In other words, you live for free. Pretty sweet deal, eh? Related: How I Went From $0 Net Worth to Qualifying for $1M in Real Estate Financing in 2.5 Years After living there for a year, you can go out and do it all over again, with another four-unit building! You also score some great hands-on experience managing rental units. If youre looking for a little inspiration, read this case study of how one newbie house hacked a duplex. Cash Is King No matter your real estate investing niche, more cash gives you more options. That means stockpiling cash should become a priority for you. The less income that you can live on, the better. Some investors even live on half their incomeand save and invest the rest! Between down payments, closing costs, cash reserves, renovation budgets and more, investors always need cash and lots of it. As you buy rental properties, set aside all the profits toward your next property. Through house hacking, you can get away with buying your first property or two with minimum cash. But that will quickly change, so make cash planning a part of your real estate investing strategy. Heres a prefab plan for how to make the most of your initial savings, and remember to secure your financing before you actually need it for a deal! Were republishing this article to help out our newer readers. Have any questions or concerns about financing your first few deals? What about financing deals after conventional lenders wont touch you anymore? Fire away. The BiggerPockets community has your back! https://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/financing-investment-properties In our last post, we talked at length about the most fundamental unit of internet marketing for property managers, the piece of content. In this post, were going to go in the opposite direction and look at the biggest possible picturethe entire sales funnel, from top to bottom, and all of the links in between. Well touch very lightly on the topics of SEO and social media, but those will come in even more detail later. For now, lets talk about what a sales funnel even is, because there are two very different but intricately connected ways of thinking about your sales funnel.
Defining a Sales Funnel in Terms of People The first way to think about your sales funnel is in terms of the human beings that travel through it. From this perspective, a sales funnel is an ever-smaller group of people, each of which is more familiar with and excited by your product or service than the last. The layers lay out like this: The Ignorant Masses who have never even heard of you.The Aware Masses who have heard of you, but havent directly interacted with any of your content except possibly to glance at something in passing.The Potentials who have interacted with your content but havent actively reached out to you.The Leads who have shown an interest in, but not made any move to purchase or sign up for your service.The Prospects who have started the process of purchasing or signing up for your services, but havent actually paid for them yet.The Customers who have paid for your services.The Fans who have used your services and liked them enough to comment positively about them.The Fanatics who actively (and without being paid) talk up your service and lead other people to sign up for it. Its impossible to measure the size of first two layersbecause they havent done anything measurable yet. The third layer is almost impossible to measure because its a ridiculous amount of work to track views on every piece of content you put out there. So most of the time, leads is where you start keeping track of the ratio of people who move from each layer further down the funnel, which is called the conversion rate of that layer. Its pretty normal for conversion rates to be in the single digits, so you might have in a given month 4,000 new leads, 200 new prospects, 16 new customers, and one new fan. (Fanatics are extremely rare.) The people side of the sales funnel is a straight-up numbers gamethe bigger you can get that initial pool of aware masses, the more people there are to convert down the funnel, and the more customers you end up with at the bottom. The other side of the funnel is how you play that numbers game, and its a significantly more complex subject. Defining a Sales Funnel in Terms of Content We said last week that content broke down into three purposes: getting attention, relating information, and motivating action. This is where those purposes come into play. In terms of content, a sales funnel can be thought of less like a singular funnel of water and more like a river, with lots of tributaries combining into a larger and larger stream. Related: The 6-Step Funnel Needed to Find Unlimited Real Estate Deals The Mouth of the River: Your Website This kind of sales funnel is built from the mouth of the river upward, which is to say you start with your sales page(s), where you intend for your future clientele to actually make the decision to, and then actually, pay for your services. Obviously, the content on that page is the motivation action kind of content, but its important that the page exist within a larger contextan entire website that has content on it that is made to relate information. Specifically, information that tells the reader this is a legitimate company that has something to offer that you cant easily find elsewhere, including: Technical pages like terms of use, a sitemap, and other pages that say, Were serious about being a business.Functional pages that help your existing customers like a contact us page, a pay rent here page, and similar pages that say, We want our customers to have an easy time interacting with us.Pages that inform your leads and prospects about your business and what makes it unique among property managers in your area. If you dont have all that, your sales page wont convert as many prospects as it could, which is bad for business. The Main Branches: Content Built for Your Target Market Segments The reason why the river branches once you get above the level of your website is that your audience isnt a single coherent entity. Its a bunch of individual people, and you should definitely put the effort into identifying what groups within the Aware Masses that you most want to appeal to. Common groups for property managers to target include: Do-it-yourself landlords who eventually have too much to do and need to offload the burden,Foreign investors who cant get local often enough to landlord personally,Individual (non-corporate) investors who just purchased a new home and cant/dont want to put the work in to landlord themselves,Apartment complexes that appear to be failing due to crappy existing managers, orBusinesses that create new investors by selling investment properties to other individuals or small businesses, and thus create a steady stream of new customers. There are two different layers within the main branches part of the content funnel. The lower of the two layers is made of static web pagesusually one per target market segmentthat are essentially pre-sales pages designed to get one specific segment ready to buy. They then link to the sales page. The upper layer of main branches are generally blog posts or similar midrange-to-long-form content that you produce at regular intervals to attract the attention of your target market. They link to the lower layer of the same branch. The critical difference is that the upper layer should be regularly refreshed with new content, while the lower layer should be staticwell talk about why in the SEO post. The Major Tributaries: Durable Content Designed to Get Eyes on the Main Branches The next step up the funnel consists of midrange content that you post on other websitessay, like BiggerPocketsthat either directly links back to a relevant piece of lower-level content, or just provides enough information that a sufficiently interested person could easily look up your business on their own (and enough relevance and expertise that they would want to). The crucial factor in this layer is that you want to host his content on sites that come with an audiencesay, like BiggerPockets. Its a huge mistake to put your major-tributary content up on some tiny niche webspace that no one is reading, whether thats a no-audience site like DetroitAreaPropertyManagersDirectory.com (not a real site), or a no-audience page on an otherwise busy site (like the DetroitAreaPropertyManagers subReddit or whatever). You want to hitch a ride on the popularity of the sites that youre putting your major tributary content on, and then preferably provide a literal link to one of your lower-level main branch pagesor at least set up your content so that its branded or otherwise provides useful pointers toward other pages of yours. Related: 4 Reasons Introverts Make Great Real Estate Salespeople The factor that separates major and minor tributaries is durability. Content that is durable is content that will remain relevant and useful to new visitors for at least years, if not decades, to come. Your major tributary content needs to solve problems that your target market segments will still be having or provide information that theyll still be looking for, until theres some sort of major social or technology shift that changes the whole game on you. Speaking of the minor tributaries The Minor Tributaries: Provocative Content Designed to Capture Attention and Get Shares Content that isnt durable had better have something else going for itand in the world of marketing, theres really only one other factor that genuinely mattersreach. If you cant count on content to get you thousands of views over several years, you need to be able to use it to get several hundreds of views in a week or so. Well get into the precise reasons why more in the post on social media, but for now, lets talk about how to create the effect. We mentioned above that durable content needs to solve problemsnon-durable content needs to provoke reactions. That means you generally want your minor tributary content to be at least one of: Radical in that it promotes a view contrary to the norm (with a good reason why, naturally),Timely in that is responds to a well-known event that affects your industry,Emotionally engaging in that it tells a (real, relevant) story your audience will identify with,Useful in that it provides relevant but somewhat rare information in a snackable format, orFunny in a way that doesnt go against your brand or your industrys general values. The best minor tributary content makes its reader think, OMG, definitely would want to see this!and then sneaks in a link back to any of the layers below it, depending on what its most relevant to. The Streams and Creeks: Content Designed to Spread the Reach of Other Content The final, uppermost layer of the content sales funnel consists of short, extremely-low-effort creations that do little more than summarize another piece of content and point a link at it. Think a particular blog post of yours that BiggerPockets just published is awesome enough to deserve more attention than normal? Write a two-sentence summary of it, link to it, and then slap that puppy into Twitter, Facebook, and whatever other channels work well with that kind of thing. Generally, you dont want to create this kind of content once the thing youre linking to is more than a week old, because the Internet audience doesnt like to be linked to old contentnot unless your summary points out why that older content is freshly relevant due to a recent event or market change. And thats the two sides of internet sales funnelsthe one that measures how your audience is moving toward selling, and the one that creates links in a ever expanding web drawing people inward toward the point of sale. But thats not the only function of the content funnel! The other, even more important function of the content funnel is SEO. Which means weve reached the end of this post, and youll have to check back in next time to learn how to optimize your contentand have your content, in turn, optimize your position on the search engines. What does your content sales funnel look like? Comment below! https://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/internet-marketing-property-managers-sales-funnels/ This post is the 6th in a series that Bryan Taylor, John Jacobus, and I affectionately call Warren Buffett is my Real Estate Mentor. We hope his timeless wisdom impacts you like it has us.
Have You Ever Been Under a Spell? One of the definitions of a spell is:An ability to control or influence people as though one has magical power over them. Most of us havent. Or at least, we dont know we have. (Thats the problem with spells. The person under one is usually the last to know. Dang it.) But we all know others who have. Like your husband who sits spellbound every Sunday afternoon all fall watching his favorite eleven NFL teams. Or Frodo Baggins in the epic final scene at Mount Doom when it seemed like Middle Earth would be cast into darkness for another age. (They could have done that whole movie in about 17 minutes if the eagles would have just flown the ring from the Shire and dropped it into the lava river. That would have saved a ton on their $281 million production budget Im thinking.) Warren Buffett says that almost all investors are under a spell. And after reading his commentary, I realize that Ive been under a spell for a lot of my investing career. Its the spell cast by Mr. Market. From Buffetts 1987 Berkshire Hathaway Annual Letter: Mr. Market is there to serve you, not to guide you. It is his pocketbook, not his wisdom, that you will find useful. If he shows up some day in a particularly foolish mood, you are free to either ignore him or to take advantage of him, but it will be disastrous if you fall under his influence. Indeed, if you arent certain that you understand and can value your business far better than Mr. Market, you dont belong in the game. Well that sounds harsh. Really Warren? I dont belong in the game? Yes. Buffett understands that markets consist of highly emotional participants whose perspectives on the value of assets can swing wildly based on recent positive or negative news, irrespective of the underlying fundamentals. In his mind, the purpose of the market is to SERVE investors, not to GUIDE investors. What Does Buffett Mean by This? I love this perspective, and though it seems obvious now, I dont think I ever thought of it just this way. (And Im sure I never called the market Mister.) Related:What Would Warren Buffett Do? 12 Quotes for Smarter Investing Buffett encourages investors to buy assets when theyre selling at discounts to their intrinsic value. A disconnect between price and value can work in an investors favor when other market participants are overly pessimistic. Investors should be most active with their acquisition activity when pessimism is rampant.In times of optimism, market participants tend to bid up prices to levels that exceed underlying asset values. This is when investors should exercise extreme caution, resist the temptation to follow the crowd, and avoid overpaying for assets. The current real estate market cycle is clearly on the optimistic side. Investors should adjust their behavior accordingly.Warren encourages investors to remain aware of the behavior and emotional state of other market participants. To him, investors can create an advantage by adjusting their behavior to seize opportunities to buy undervalued assets when others are pessimistic. Similarly, he encourages investors to avoid activity when prices become inflated as a result of others optimism.Buffett encourages investors to notice cues from other market participants and behave in ways that are contrary to the crowd. In his mind, the fact that others are buying with reckless abandon should be a signal to curb behavior and exercise caution. I already suspected it, but Im pretty sure Warrens mama told him, If everyone else is jumping off a bridge, does that mean you should? So, How Does This Apply to Real Estate?Investment real estate markets are cyclical and are driven by economic activity, availability of credit, and investor outlook. At the top of the cycle, unbridled optimism leads investors to ignore warning signs and make unrealistic projections about the future. This leads to inflated prices and creates a contagious feeling among investors who fear sitting on the sidelines in fear of missing out on returns.Many investors decide to enter the real estate market at the wrong time (i.e., at the top of the cycle when euphoria is at its peak). Unfortunately, when optimism is extreme, value is difficult to find. Similarly, even seasoned investors are influenced by the optimism of others and take undue risk during times of heightened optimism due to short memories and the emotional pull of the market.Although its hardest to exercise caution when seemingly everyone is on a buying binge, its often best to ignore the crowd. Similarly, while its very difficult to take action at the depths of the market cycle, unbelievable deals can be found during this period. Some of the worlds legendary real estate investors have built substantial wealth buying real estate at fire sale prices when other market participants are highly pessimistic (e.g., Sam Zell, Conrad Hilton, etc.).Contrast todays market to the market in 2008-09. Its difficult to find value in todays market despite the fact that many seem very upbeat about the prospects of the industry. Yet great deals were abundant in 2008-09 despite the fact that many were scared to take action due to financial wounds incurred during the financial crisis.Compressed cap rates, hard earnest money deposits requested on day one of due diligence, and the abundance of capital chasing fewer deals are signals that greed is the flavor of the day in the multifamily market and elsewhere. In light of the diminished prudence with which others are conducting themselves in the multifamily market, Mr. Buffett may suggest that now is a time to exercise greater prudence with your own affairs.The Rubber Meets the Road I said this was particularly applicable to me, and Im excited to share it with you. Ive had my share of success and mistakes in this arena. Like When the world was chasing waterfront properties, my partner and I jumped on the bandwagon. We got in about the middle not too early or too late. We made a lot of money buying overgrown waterfront lots at Smith Mountain Lake starting in 2004. When Fortune magazines cover said, The Real Estate Bubble is about to burst, we eagerly read the article. We believed it (generally). But we had a pipeline of great deals, so we bought a few more. Then the market turned. Which led to my famous (in my own mind) story of going $2.5 million into debt in the midst of the recession. You can read how I got out here.In the midst of the Bakken oil boom in 2011, we saw a huge opportunity to build high-quality multifamily, hotels, and man camps in northwest North Dakota. We got in fairly early. We built the nicest place in town, ran it profitably for years, then sold if for a great profit. If a little greed worked, more would be better, right? We went on to build a very large, very nice hotel. It was said to be the nicest in North Dakota. Thats great, but when oil prices did the unthinkable and dropped from the $90s to the $30s, so did oil exploration and business travel. (That was more like a bad idea in any economy honestly. Depending on oil prices for your success is speculating, not investing.)A Quick Test There are probably many ways to test to see if you may be falling under Mr. Markets spell. Here are a few sample questions to ask yourself and your trusted advisors. You should certainly come up with your own to fit your situation. Youre about to buy a multifamily asset. If the BiggerPockets forums and news headlines light up with people saying that its time to sell multifamily now, would this change your mind?Are you counting on appreciation and the potential of refinance to make your deal work? Or does it work well as a cash flowing deal now, with or without appreciation?If it was 2009 again, and there were plentiful deals to be had for 40 cents on the dollar but no one else wanted in, would you consider buying?In the midst of a recession do you think like many: this is the big one, and the market wont ever go back to normal?Similarly, in the midst of a bull market, do you think this is the new normal. Cap rates will continue to compress and this buying binge has no end in sight. I want in at almost any cost? Related:What Warren Buffett Just Told Me About Real Estate is Great News for Investors And remember, before you buzz through a list of questions like this, the words of the famous physicist, Richard Feynman: The first principle is that you must not fool yourself, and you are the easiest person to fool. Getting Personal In my last post, I told the story of how Warren Buffett truly lives by his own teaching. He bought financial companies when virtually no one else would touch them. I hope that you will follow in his footsteps. I plan to. I really do believe that Ive learned my lesson. My team and I are not overpaying for apartments. There are plenty of others doing that, and I hope youre not among them. Were still bidding on apartments, by the way. Just not willing to consciously overpay. And I didnt chase the speculative crypto market. Though when my close friend, a 60-something doctor, made millions under his Millennial sons guidance, I must say I was tempted. And a little jealous. And like Ive been talking about for a few months, our team is currently investing in a less sexy asset class. And were really excited about it! And after that one, we may even look at mobile home parks. As you may know, Buffett and Zell were way ahead of us on manufactured housing, so it could be a good bet. If its not too late that is. By the way, if you hear about them selling, please let me know. Id rather be under their spell than that of Mr. Market. So what about you? What are you doing to protect yourself from being under Mr. Markets spell? Or are you ok just going with the crowd and hoping it works out? Share below! https://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/how-to-make-millions-by-escaping-mr-markets-devious-spell/ BiggerPockets Podcast 296: From Farm Boy Beginnings to $15M in Real Estate Holdings with Rock Thomas9/16/2018 What does it take to truly find financial independence? Money? Deals? Mentors? Or could it be something else entirely something intangible? In this episode of the BiggerPockets Podcast, we sit down with Rock Thomas, a real estate investor and agent who shows others the simple mindset shifts needed to achieve financial freedom. In other words, its time to work on YOUR money blueprint. Through Rocks story, youll learn the most important skills any individual needs to achieve in any field, the best way to find and attract mentors who can teach you the path, how to change your operating system to one that is far more successful, and so much more. With powerful stories, humor, and insight, Rocks story is one you wont want to miss!
Click hereto listen on iTunes. Listen to the Podcast HerePodcast: Play in new window | Download Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Android | RSS Watch the Podcast Here [embedded content] Help Us Out! Help us reach new listeners on iTunes by leaving us a rating and review! It takes just 30 seconds and instructions can be found here. Thanks! We really appreciate it! This Show Sponsored By We just wanted to give a shout out to our podcast sponsoron todays show: RealtyShares. RealtyShares is a crowdfunding platform that allows you to invest in professionally managed properties without leaving your living room! Learn more by visitingRealtyShares.com/biggerpockets! Deep Dive SponsorFundrise enables you to invest in high-quality, high-potential private market real estate projects. Im talking anything from high rises in D.C. to multi-families in L.A. institutional-quality stuff. And each project is carefully vetted and actively managed by Fundrises team of real estate pros.Their high-tech, low-cost online platform lets you track the progress of every single project, and keep more of the money you make. Oh, and by the way, you dont have to be accredited.Fire Round Sponsor Check outSimpliSafeSecuritys DIY home security systems; an affordable, wireless, cellular, and customizable system that doesnt require a contract! Try it today with a discount:simplisafepockets.com In This Episode We Cover:Rocks backstory as a worker on a farmWhat mentors look for into someoneHow he used pain to propel himself forwardSaying yes to opportunities, no matter how difficultThe importance of having what it takesWhy you should seek out people with energyBeing the guy who solves any problemThe 4 money personality typesThe type of properties he invests inAnd SO much more!Links from the ShowBooks Mentioned in this ShowFire Round QuestionsTweetable Topics:Mentors, you want to admire them and you want to be them.(Tweet This!)When you step in the room and you feel youre not the smartest guy, youre in the right room.(Tweet This!)Get comfortable with being uncomfortable.(Tweet This!)You can get anything you want in life as long as you are committed and creative.(Tweet This!)Find what pisses people off and solve it for them. (Tweet This!)Connect with Rock https://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/biggerpockets-podcast-296-from-farm-beginnings-to-15m-in-real-estate-holdings-with-rock-thomas |
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