Sleaze-free Real Estate Investing

There are two ways to grow a rental portfolio: occasionally, or continuously. As Thoughtful Real Estate Entrepreneurs, we want to grow our rental portfolios on a continuous basis—not in sporadic fits and starts. But the mainstream “powers that be” have designed the system to prevent you from this continuous growth; to force you into moderate growth by their standards of what is safe and acceptable. So if you want to grow your rental portfolio continuously, you have to have three key things in place that allow you to operate outside the traditional system: Deal Flow, Loans and Cash. In this episode, Jeff discusses these three critical categories and how to create continuous access to each.

One of the most valuable skills you can develop is “coachability.” What is coachability? It’s the ability to be open-minded, to take constructive feedback well, and to be willing to try new things when suggested by those with more experience. Great real estate investors are coachable…but the truth is, most people aren’t. In this episode, Jeff discusses what it means to be coachable, how to recognize if you’re inadvertently NOT being coachable, and how to make sure you distinguish between being coachable and just following advice blindly.

If there’s one thing we’re usually keenly aware of, it’s what we’re lacking—the missing puzzle pieces keeping us from doing the deals we want to do. But instead of focusing on what we are missing, what if we focused instead on what we HAVE (or will have), and then asking ourselves the question: “How can I convert what I DO HAVE into what I WANT? In this episode, Jeff breaks down the many ways we can convert what we already have into what we want, so that we keep moving forward toward our goals.

“Imposter Syndrome”—that feeling that we do not have the credentials to be doing what we’re doing—is something many of us face…especially when negotiating directly with Sellers. Imposter Syndrome and the self-doubt it brings can discourage or even prevent us from having the Seller conversations we need to have to grow our portfolios and reach our financial goals. In this episode, Jeff explains how to handle Imposter Syndrome, embrace it and not let it slow us down. Http://Www.thoughtfulRE.com/e87

We know we want to generate off-market leads, so that we can negotiate directly with the Seller. This leads most investors to ask the question, “what’s the most effective way to generate those off-market leads?” This is, however, the wrong question. A better question is, “what type of Negotiation Dynamic do you want to create with your lead generation?” In this episode, Jeff explains the important concept of Negotiation Dynamic, and the importance of focusing your marketing strategy around generating leads that fit your desired Negotiation Dynamic.

How do we make money in real estate investing? Simply put, we seek to find “a Delta”—the difference between what we see in a property, and what the Seller sees. Entrepreneurs don’t see what is there, they see what COULD be there. There are many different “Deltas” we can find and profit from, and in this episode Jeff walks through eight examples of common “Deltas” we can look for and often find!

When you first get started marketing directly to Sellers, it can seem a little scary to field those Seller phone calls and respond to their comments and questions. There’s a direct correlation between your confidence in responding to their questions, and the progress you can make in your off-market acquisition efforts. In this episode, Jeff shares three of the most common challenging Seller questions and objections, and provides simple examples of how to respond to them smoothly and simply.

“I don’t have enough money; if only I had more money, I’d be making more progress.” This is a common sentiment among many real estate investors—that lack of access to money is what’s holding them back. But is that really true? In this episode, Jeff explains that lack of access to money is NOT what is holding most real estate investors back. Instead, it’s lack of a clear vision, plan and preparation for what they will do with money when it shows up. Money is just an ingredient in a recipe for doing a real estate project, and like any missing ingredient, it can be acquired if needed.

It’s exciting when you find a Seller who is open to doing Seller Financing with you! But there’s a huge and important difference between a Seller who *WANTS* to do Seller Financing, and one who is just *WILLING* to do it. The power dynamic and negotiation context is very different with each of them. In this episode, Jeff describes the difference between these two types of Sellers, and how to approach each of them so that you can negotiate the best possible Seller Financing terms in your deal.

What happens when you get a new Seller lead, and the Seller says “no” to Seller Financing early in the conversation? Is the lead a dead end? Is there a way to revive the Seller Financing possibilities? In this episode, Jeff explains why you should never be hearing “no” from a Seller at the beginning. He also explains that if you do somehow find yourself in that situation, there’s a four-step process for bringing Seller Financing back into the conversation and negotiation in a thoughtful and respectful way.

Many people who get involved in real estate investing have a dream: to someday go full-time as a real estate entrepreneur. To many, achieving full-time status may seem difficult or daunting—but it doesn’t have to be! In this episode, Jeff goes over the five things that you must do in order to build a full-time business as a real estate entrepreneur: 1) Always be marketing 2) Always be following up 3) Use the Triple-Threat Acquisition Strategy 4) Always be cultivating private money and other sources of funding and 5) Always be cultivating a list of people who want what you have.

The term “creative financing” has become an increasingly common word in the language of real estate investors. But is “creative financing” really that creative…is it just creative in comparison to “normal financing” from banks? And is “creative financing” something to be proud of, or is something to be embarrassed about, that you have to “fall back on” because you don’t qualify for regular financing? In this episode, Jeff dives deep into what “creative financing” means, and explains why creative financing isn’t really that creative—it’s just resourceful problem-solving. And most importantly, Jeff explains why being a resourceful, problem-solving creative financing dealmaker is something to be proud of, even if the rest of the world doesn’t understand.

Many investors are building a plan for someday retiring from their day jobs and entering the world of real estate entrepreneurship full-time. That’s even true for professional athletes, like this episode’s guest, Nat Borchers. Nat is retired professional soccer player, who while building a respected career on the field and winning two MLS Cups, also built a real estate investing business that he could transition to full-time when he retired. In this episode, Jeff and Nat discuss a wide variety of topics related to real estate investing, entrepreneurship and life, including the importance of being coachable, how to be intentional in life and business, and the parallels between winning as an athlete and as an investor.  Plus, Nat shares the story of a giant BRRRR deal involving 28 homes!

When you’re working hard to build a relationship with your Seller—which is exactly what we do as Thoughtful Real Estate Entrepreneurs, there’s one very important thing you need to identify and understand about your Seller: what is their “currency”? A Seller’s currency is what they value the most, and what they need to be “paid in” if you want to succeed in building a relationship with them. In this episode, Jeff explains the concept of the Seller’s currency, gives examples of different types of Seller currencies, and explains how you can “pay” the Seller in their own currency.

Most investors jump on the phone with a new Seller lead and start asking questions that they need the answers to. Makes sense, right? But Thoughtful Real Estate Entrepreneurs don’t just ask questions they need the answers to, they also ask questions they ALREADY know the answers to! Why? Find out in this episode, where Jeff explains the two major reasons why it’s so incredibly valuable to ask the Seller questions you already know the answer to.

There are so many different ways we can potentially communicate with our Sellers. From text to email to phone to in-person meetings, there are many options. So which ones do we choose? The easiest and most convenient channels? The one the Seller initiates with? No—we choose the BEST one that will best aid in our negotiation. In this episode, Jeff describes the difference between gathering “information” verses gathering “insights,” and five-level hierarchy of Seller communication channels, in order from worst to best.

Many real estate investors are very focused on managing their “DTI”: Debt-to-Income ratio. Why? Because they think it’s the key to qualifying for the loans they need. But being so focused on DTI is a choice, not a requirement. In this episode, Jeff explains how designing your financial life around DTI is like letting the tail wag the dog—it’s focusing on the wrong thing. Instead, Jeff explains how to stay focused on the most important things: the game of wealth-building, not the game of loan qualification.

We spend a lot of our energy, as real estate entrepreneurs, generating off-market leads. But many of those leads will require long-term follow-up before they turn into deals. So how do you properly nurture those relationships over time, so that when the Seller is ready, you're their first call? In this episode, Jeff interviews Robert Syfert of www.realestateinvestor.com, who shares experience and expert insights on following up with valuable Seller leads. Robert Syfert is the founder of InvestorPO, Property List Manager, and USA Portfolio Real Estate and visionary for RealEstateInvestor.com. With well over a decade of experience in the industry, Robert has sold and managed hundreds of investment properties and is passionate about giving real estate investors their lives back through software, tools, and services that minimize processes and maximize both free time and profits. Robert’s a family man who believes that every real estate investor can achieve success and financial security in this industry—without

Do you ever feel stuck at a certain level of success in your life? Like you’re destined for this level of success…but not more? That’s because you’ve set your “life thermostat” at the current level, and it won’t let you get too hot or too cold. In this episode, Jeff shares the metaphor of the “thermostat of your life,” an idea from podcast host and businessman Ed Mylett. Jeff shares how this affects real estate entrepreneurs, and most importantly, how we can “turn up” the thermostat permanently so that we can achieve higher levels of success.

When buying investment properties, it’s very common to encounter Sellers who are going to do a 1031 Exchange when they sell. But did you know that there are two very different categories of 1031 Exchange Sellers…each of which having very different motivations? As Thoughtful Real Estate Entrepreneurs, we always Solve the Person, so it’s extremely important we understand which of the two categories our Sellers fall into. In this episode, Jeff describes the two types, and explains the unique opportunity and power that each of these Sellers give us.