INVESTTHIS

Investing wisely means waiting for the right time amidst a cautious housing market and potential price corrections. Scott Bower sits down with real estate investor and developer Jared Vidales as they discuss various residential real estate investment strategies including flips, seller financing, and lease options. Jared shares invaluable insights into maximizing asset value across various real estate strategies. Reflecting on challenges in real estate development versus residential flips, Jared underscores the critical role of due diligence in managing risks at each phase. Jared predicts a potential boom in real estate driven by declining interest rates, highlighting key opportunities for investors in the evolving market landscape.

No more spreadsheets, and no more financial advisors. Sound good? I’m talking today with the owner of Passiv, who caters to busy high-earning professionals who are DIY Investors. Creating your retirement nest egg shouldn't be so hard, and traditional financial portfolio management can eat up your time and money, but no more! 

Today’s guest is Nick McCullum, who is the owner of Passiv, which is a portfolio management tool that makes it easier for DIY investors to maintain a balanced portfolio and build a passive investment strategy at their online broker. It eliminates the need to use spreadsheets, saves investors from logging into their broker to place trades, and helps DIY investors stick to their portfolio’s target allocation. It’s the ultimate wealth manager!

During today’s episode, Nick and I talk about how Passiv can help investors, how the platform works with brokerage houses, understanding target asset allocation, and managing self-directed accounts. If you are looking to get a higher return on your investments, which will allow you a larger retirement nest-egg, then this podcast is for you.

Key Insights:

• Making DIY investing more accessible for investors who manage their own portfolios
• How Passiv does all the work for you
• Investing perfectly in your target portfolio
• Why they don’t use AI to manage your portfolio
• Who benefits from Passiv
• Designed for everyday investors who are planning for retirement
• What differentiates Pasiv from other one-click trading platforms
• Understanding your target asset allocation 

Passive replaces the dreaded spreadsheet as well as your financial advisor

• How passive works with brokerage houses
• What makes passive unique is their trade capabilities 
• Alternative investments tracking
• First-time user tips
• How COVID has affected the online trading space

When the markets are volatile, people trade more. 

• How Passive’s technology determines the right investing moves for customers
• Walking through how investments may get off track 

What Nick is Reading:

Elon Musk: A Biography of Billionaire Entrepreneur Elon Musk (Robert Hanson)

Get in Touch with Nick:

Passiv

Competition is fierce out here in the real estate game! Here in Phoenix, there is zero inventory on the MLS, and the distressed market is slim, and that scenario is playing out all across the county. This battle is pushing every real estate investor to look for a way to outsmart their competition to the next good deal. Unfortunately, most real estate investors use the same lists, driving the competition to be even fiercer. So, how do you differentiate yourself? How do you find and close those deals first? It's all about using good data and smart marketing!

Josh Miller, founder and CEO of Go For Close left his secure engineering position to pursue full-time real estate investing. After achieving his goal of creating $40K in passive income a month, he retired, as he wasn't passionate about real estate, but he did know he wanted to help people.  

Josh realized that what investors needed most was an efficient way to create strong leads, using smart marketing to close the deal. Josh had a problem: he didn't want to handle the marketing side of it, nor the sales; he just wanted to run the business. So, he hired experts in their respective fields to help investors. Go For Close empowers real estate investors to focus on sales and closing deals by providing a specialized team and marketing platform at an affordable rate. They assist clients in finding qualified leads and staying competitive regardless of the market landscape. They do the marketing so that clients can focus on closing deals.

Today, Josh shares some phenomenal tips on finding strong data, what data to stay away from, and the key factors to good marketing once you get those leads. As Josh says, "We are in such a competitive market, you have to have multi-channel marketing to scale."

Key Insights:

• How Josh was able to retire young while making $40K in passive income a month
• Understanding early on that he had to hire for the skills he didn't possess
• The real estate investor competitive landscape today
• The next wave of marketing: predictive analytical data
• Utilizing different data sources to create a comprehensive list
• Understanding what data is out there and what to stay away from
• It's tough for individual investors to be expert marketers; know when to hire/delegate that portion of your business
• What the typical investor is getting data today, and why they have to change their game

Data is gold, but if you have hundreds of investors using the same data, it's fool's gold.

• How to find good data
• Those phone numbers aren't good leads, you say? Are you sure? 
• Why you should never rely on one list provider
• Your initial marketing message is key to your success. If you're not getting a 60% response rate, you're doing something wrong.

If you have bad data, you have bad leads, and all the best marketing in the world won't help.

• Why having an omnipresence is key to outsmarting your competition 
• How to recognize where your weaknesses are and hire experts to fill those jobs

There are no secrets to this game; it's about who can be the most innovative.

What's Josh Reading:

Who Not How: The Formula to Achieve Bigger Goals Through Accelerating Teamwork (Dan Sullivan)

Contact Josh:

Go For Close

[email protected] (get a free consultation, just say Scott sent you!)

We all want to generate a ton of motivated seller leads, but using radio? Yes, radio may feel a bit antiquated, but according to Chris Arnold, most real estate owners are over 50 years old and still listen to the radio. According to Nielsen, even beyond Chris’ expertise, radio listening is on the rise, and people are tuning in with greater frequency to news/talk formats. Those with greater spending optimism are more likely to be heavy AM/FM radio listeners.

Radio advertising provides high-quality leads, as the people who take action and call you are serious about doing a deal. And since most investors are using the other strategies where they are less qualified or serious about doing a deal, it could be more efficient for you and your team.

Chris is the owner of Wholesaling Inc and the creator of the REI Radio program. He works with clients to get 100 ads per month, per station, for about $1,000 to $2,000 per month. Chris shares tips on leveraging radio to find real estate deals and why radio is the best marketing, yet most overlooked, solution for real estate investors. 

Key Insights:

• Chris’ real estate journey 
• Why virtual real estate was the way to go, even before COVID
• The 3 Freedoms we all want: Freedom of resources, freedom of time, freedom of thought, freedom of location
•  The solution provider approach to real estate investing
• The two categories of lead generation
• Why radio is the perfect channel for real estate investors
• Reaching the prime audience of people aged 50+ 
• The cost of using radio is one of the most affordable marketing
• The mistake most people make when advertising on radio 
• How to analyze a radio advertising buy 

If you buy marketing right, you will net a high ROI

• Negotiating radio advertising rates
• How you obtain immediate leads advertising on the radio
• The two main things you get with radio marketing that you don’t get anywhere else

Radio is a respective form of marketing that provides you instant credibility and celebrity status

• Radio marketing is excellent for new real estate investors
• Generating motivated seller leads without the headaches 
• How radio instills recognition and trust for you and your business
• Radio is a great way to generate off-market leads
• What type of real estate investors should use radio advertising
• The process to follow for successful radio marketing
• The best way to handle radio live leads
• The ROI of radio marketing compared to other channels
• The most competitive radio markets and how to differentiate yourself
• Transitioning from success to significance
• What marketers like about radio

Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it’s time to pause and reflect.

What Chris is Reading:

The Motive (Patrick M. Lencioni)

Get in Touch with Chris:

Wholesaling, Inc. / REI Radio

If you're not mindful of your money, your money will mind you. The best way to be mindful is to be confident in your financial literacy, and that takes education! 

In today's COVID world, research says that over 50% of American's don't have enough savings to make it through the pandemic. Society, marketing, advertising, and Amazon have all played a part in the vicious circle of borrowing ourselves into oblivion as we continue to purchase things that we probably don't need.

As my guest, Jonathan DeYoe, says, "once you're financially educated, you no longer stress about your money." Jonathan is focused on helping people become financially literate and writes about Financial Literacy and Behavioral Wealth Management for news outlets like BusinessInsider.com and MindBodyGreen.com. He is also the author of the Amazon Bestseller Mindful Money: Simple Practices for Realizing Your Financial Goals and Increasing Your Happiness Dividend. He also takes his expertise on the road and speaks locally and nationally on the intersection of money and mindfulness.

In today's show, Jonathan and I discuss basic finance, create a financial plan, and how mindset plays a significant role in your financial freedom. As I always say, "You have to get your mindset right, to get your money right." We also discuss fiduciary advisors vs. financial advisors and the path of financial security > financial freedom > wealth.

• How Jonathan started with nothing, tried everything, and found his niche
• Understanding basic finance and creating a plan
• How wealth is created in the real world

Financing today is a vicious circle as the capacity for us to borrow ourselves into oblivion plays into our desire to spend.

• The dangerous backend marketing of social media doesn't help our penchant for spending. 
• Financial literacy today 
• Mindful money
• How Jonathan started building financial courses
• Fiduciary advisors vs. financial advisors

Financial advisors are trained to pitch products; fiduciary advisors are required by law to do what is best for their clients.

• Get educated and prepare yourself for disaster
• How the economy will always bounce back 
• The path of financial security > financial freedom > wealth
• The simple practice of reaching your financial goals and increasing your happiness dividend 
• How to set financial goals
• How to change your mindset for financial literacy success. 
• Are you increasing your debt, or are you increasing your net worth?
• What to do with your excess cash for optimum return

Focus on the things that make a difference, and ignore the things that don’t. 

What Jonathan is Reading:

The Buddhist Psychology of Awakening (Steven D. Goodman)

Contact Jonathan:

Mindful Money

Get out your notepad because we will dive deep into note investing, from the hard numbers to real-world scenarios of the many ways to make money investing in notes. From how to handle a default due to foreclosure and still make money, to a property that doubles in value and your return, as the lender, will be. Nick goes into great detail as he starts with the note's market and goes through all the scenarios and the financials for each one. Basically, this podcast tells you everything you need to know to either up your note investing game or just get started. 

Real estate is a cyclical business, property values go up and down, but it doesn't matter what the market is doing when you invest in notes. The other benefit of note investing is there are multiple ways to make money, and you can help people who can't get a traditional loan become homeowners. And, let's not even get started about the #1 benefit of not having to deal with tenant issues. 

You are going to learn from the best, as my guest Nick Legamaro, also known as "The Note Guy," has been note investing for almost 20 years. He focuses on providing his clients with high-yield, low-risk, turn-key real estate investment notes, secured with carefully selected residential properties throughout the United States. He is here to help you become a successful note investor.

• What's changed since COVID: The foreclosures will be hitting Forbearance (pushed payment back in time) in January 2021 (may change with new administration) 

Banks always get paid because they are in the business of control, not owning 

• You can be the bank and what that means. 
• Why Scott likes investing in notes
• The leverage you have when you are the bank 
• Today's environment: End of 2020, the market has gone bananas. 
• As each year goes by, fewer and fewer people fit the pretty buyer box for traditional lenders.
• Seller financing
• Very few investments allow for predictable returns and cash flow, except for mortgages. 
• Holding notes vs. holding a property
• Amortization on a note
• Going through a real-world notes deal.
• Two types of financing: traditional and seller carry-back note seller financing
• Understanding the $26B seller note market 
• The properties you can't get traditional mortgages on
• Seller finance usage from 2009 to the present 
• Creating notes buying property, fixing it, finding the buyer, and creating seller financing as the lender on the property. 
• Understanding how a note deal works when the property doubles in value
• Why it doesn't matter if a buyer defaults on a loan
• How to keep your asset and resell it if the borrower defaults due to foreclosure 

At the end of the day, you can't predict the future, but you can mitigate your risk

• Understanding the most significant challenges and risk for note buyers (fraud)
• Doing your due diligence on finding and securing a clean note 
• $26B seller financing notes are made through mom and pop investors 
• Why you don't have to do traditional underwriting for 3 mortgage notes
• What does a mortgage servicer do for you, and why it's important
• Answering FAQs on note investing 
• How to leverage LTV (loan to value) so you and the borrower can succeed
• Understanding Investment to value (loan to cost)
• Why borrowers will pay a 10% interest rate to a private lender
• Why big banks are going to make it tougher to get a traditional loan

Using a mortgage servicer as a third-party verification which validates your word

• Notes are tradeable and liquid and how to sell for cash at a maximum value
• Understanding the foreclosure process, which is different for different states
• The benefits of note investing and the multiple ways you can make money
• Using your retirement money to invest in notes and have more when you retire
• Scott talks about one of his note deals
• How Nick helps people create note deals 

Get in Touch with Nick To Learn More About Note Investing

USA Note Pro

[email protected]

The number one concern for all real estate investors is asset protection. We don't work this hard to lose all of our hard-earned money because of a frivolous lawsuit. Yet, obtaining legal advice on asset protection can sometimes seem too expensive. That's exactly what my guest, Scott Smith, thought and built Royal Legal Solutions to help real estate investors protect their assets. 

Scott is an attorney and a real estate investor himself and has learned that keeping your wealth is just as important as making it. All of his clients are real estate investors, and everything he and his team do is focused on protecting their hard-earned assets. Currently, the firm is protecting $1.2 billion in assets across all 50 states and looking to help as many investors as possible. 

We will talk about how you should never put your assets in your personal name during today's show but use a Series LLC and Child LLC's for ultimate protection. We discuss real-world real estate investing challenges and how to apply legal solutions to avoid litigation. We also discuss land trust, saving time and money on taxes, and how most real estate investors are under covered. 

Key Insights

• Attorney and real estate investor using the same strategies that the uber-rich do.
• Making more on his side hustle in real estate than litigation
• The spark that started Royal Legal Solutions
• The number one issue Scott solves: What happens if I lose everything
• When you should start protecting your assets, especially if you are new in the real estate investing game. 
• The cost of getting legal strategies in place
• You don't have to put everything in place simultaneously; you can continue to add on strategies.
• Real-World Scenario Legal Advice: Protecting several different asset classes of real estate (SFR, multifamily, etc.) held in different LLCs
• How to use anonymity
• How to defeat those lawsuits before they get to litigation

The game of litigation: how much money do you spend on the front end, and compare it to how much money you can make on the lawsuit 

• Real-World Scenario Legal Advice: Understanding a Series LLC and Child SeriesIsolating assets
• The benefits of using a Series LLC
• Real-World Scenario Legal Advice: Buying a property subject too, and wrap that note and sell it again
• Isolating your assets
• How to hold property inside a trust
• Using a blind trust for your asset

A land trust is a critical component for getting the anonymity to stop the lawsuits before they start

• Transferring personal assets into a Series LLC
• How to use Series LLC and a blind trust so that you can mask owner public records
• How to disguise the transfer when transferring your assets from your name to land trust within the LLC structure

When you own assets in your personal name is a target on your back

• Why having assets in your name is the biggest risk you're taking
• 98% of lawsuits fail because it's an extortion scheme
• What single-family rental investors and note investors need legally
• How Royal Legal Solutions facilitates financial freedom for investors
• How are real estate investors are under covered legally
• The tax savings using a Series LLC 
• How to migrate a current LLC into a Series LLC
• Real-World Scenario: How a Series LLC off of a flip saved investor from being sued 

What Scott is Reading:

The Surrender Experiment (Michael Singer)

Get in Contact with Scott

Royal Legal Solutions

Free Legal Consultation

Take the Quick Quiz

Real estate investors are always looking for ways to increase their rents and improve their cash flow on their multifamily properties (and single-family rentals, too). But what’s left to optimize and/or add value after the hard services, the flooring, paint, and common areas are already outfitted? My guest, Jim Monk, not only found this overlooked amenity but has built a business around it!

As any good real estate investor knows, maximizing space and providing amenities will strengthen tenant occupancy, as well as give you the ability to charge higher rents. One area that some overlook is the closet. Yes, the closet! 

After 20 years in the multifamily renovation space, Jim Monk saw a massive opportunity in which the closet was being dramatically undervalued.

The multifamily closet has not changed in the last 50 years. For decades, the closet was a bland, uninspired space that was functional (at best). Thanks to poor, haphazard construction, most closets offered less than 42% of their potential storage capacity.

Over the past two decades, consumer demographics have shifted dramatically. Millennial and baby boomer renters today are not satisfied with a place to live; they want a unique residential experience enhanced by resort-style amenities (this is becoming increasingly important to renters since COVID). They seek attention to detail that promotes an exceptional quality of life. They want to know they’ll have enough space for their stuff without renting storage or living in a cluttered, claustrophobic environment.

On today’s episode, Jim will talk about how you can increase your rents 2% to 5% per unit, which is a healthy increase, even if you have a smaller portfolio. For those renting out single-family homes, this episode will show you how and why optimizing your closets will increase your NOI. 

Key Takeaways

• From a financial services career to creating Clozzits

• How Jim started his company

• Increasing multifamily NOI with closet upgrades

In this ultra-competitive real estate environment finding an edge to maximize the rent and the NOI is crucial and can separate you from your competition 

• How Jim is attacking the 95% of existing multifamily inventory 

• Listening to the marketplace enabled him to make the strongest product play

• How Clozzits drive the cost down for their products

• How companies are adopting Clozzits to increase their NOI

• How they work with property owners and the numbers behind it. 

• The difference in working with A-Class and B-Class properties

B class property owners are looking for something additional that will allow them to differentiate themselves from other properties  

• What real estate markets are doing well right now 

• How much space can be optimized with Clozzits vs. other systems

• Utilizing cost segregation 

If you’re able to add another line item to your cost segregation schedule, adding bonus depreciation for the closet space is a brilliant strategy.

• Working with student housing, senior housing, and condo property owners

• Why the competition is calling him 

• The beginning stages of building his company and how they had to pivot for profit

What Jim Would Tell His Younger Self:

Focus on finance more. Start saving now and be creative on how you do it. 

What His Biggest Risk Taught Him:

It’s important to know and listen to your team.

Jim's Book Recommendations:

Blitzscaling: The Lightning-Fast Path to Building Massively Valuable Companies  (Reid Hoffman and Chris Yeh)

Contact Jim:

Social Handle: @jimmonk

Clozzits

A new survey suggests that real estate investors are unlikely to survive in today's competitive market unless they get serious about branding their business (Source: Fortune Builders). Real estate investors often debate the decision to operate independently or build a real business and brand. Many more think that they can put off the decision. However, the need to brand your real estate investing business has never been greater, and that is why I've brought Stace Caseria on to talk about real estate branding tips to beat your competition.

Stace Caseria is the founder of Trust Deep Branding Agency and an award-winning writer and branding expert with 20-years of experience. He focuses on creating long-term loyalty between businesses and individuals built on deep trust. He got his start at MAD Magazine and has created communication content and strategy for brands like Realty, Mogul, Bose, Delta Air Lines, Panasonic, Vail Resorts, etc. He's been investing in real estate for more than 20 years and is currently both an active and passive investor.

Stace and I discuss all the aspects of branding. From the many profitable reasons why you should be branding yourself to how to create a brand. We also discuss in detail how to use that branding to create loyalty between you and your customers. 

Key Takeaways

• Why it's essential to brand your business - making yourself stand out from others and build loyalty. 
• Many real estate investors fail to take advantage of their personal or professional brand.
• Branding builds measurable value for your business beyond your sales. 
• The Coca Cola brand equity example 
• How to be the Coca Cola of real estate investing

Good branding shows that someone has given serious thought to their business. 

• Is the importance of branding more critical now because of COVID?
• 3 levels of branding - One: Someone knowing your brand (head decision). Two: Someone liking your brand (heart decision). Three: Someone who trusts you (gut decision).
• Building a trustworthy brand: likable is great, but it comes down to loyalty, which starts with trust. 
• Niche business branding vs. buffet business branding

Image generates awareness, and substance gets people to understand who you are and the value you bring to them.

• Creating your and launching your brand
• How to set up your website to capture leads
• Getting real estate professionals to understand the value of branding 
• The fundamentals of creating a brand
• The challenges of branding in today's real estate market
• The steps to take to define your brand
• Creating an authentic brand 
• How to recognize that it's time to evolve your brand
• Why branding is worth the investment

There are costs to anything; branding is an investment in your business growth. 

Stace's Book Recommendation

The Speed of Trust (Stephen Covey)

Stace's Best Advice

Buy more properties earlier and take more risks.

Get In Touch with Stace

Trust Deep Agency

YouTube Trust Deep Agency Branding Advice Channel

Trust Deep Branding

Understanding real estate market trends to make bigger profits during these crazy times can be a frustrating and challenging maze, where you can lose yourself and your money in a dead-end. But, in any situation, you have a negative and a positive. Concentrating on the positive is your first step out of the maze.

To understand the real estate market trends for 2020 and 2021, Mike Wolf joins us today to offer his expertise. Mike is a self-made freedom lifestyle entrepreneur, seasoned investor, and international speaker. He has been investing in real estate for almost 30 years and has been a featured speaker on NBC, CBS, Yahoo Finance, and SiriusXM. But it wasn’t always profits and roses for Mike. Like many entrepreneurs, he had to learn from his mistakes to move forward.

Mike went to law school as his parents wanted him to, but got a taste of the money to be made from real estate investing after buying his first property. With equity on his side and an ego that could do anything, he quit his day job and ventured into his second investment, which was a disaster. Hiring a mentor and learning the tricks of the trade, Mike has gone on to do over 2000 transactions and has a team that allows him to sit back and collect rent. The systems and equity he has built have allowed him to help others start their real estate investing journey.

During this episode, Mike offers some phenomenal tips for first-time investors on what not to do when you’re starting out. We also dive deep into the trends that are happening now and what trends you will see in the future, no matter the outcome of the presidential election. One of the most exciting parts of today’s episode is our discussion on taking advantage of the trends and making bigger profits. 

• How Mike started his career in real estate investing 
• How to come back after a devastating financial loss
• What you should do to successfully jump from the corporate world to real estate investing world 
• Finding a JV partner or mentor to provide real estate education and propel your investing career
• The 3 different revenue streams that keep Mike profitable every day
• How COVID19 changed Mike’s business 
• The future of the real estate market
• The significant real estate investment opportunities on the horizon

My focus keeps changing due to what is happening in the marketplace 

• How property auctions are going to boom in the near future and how to take advantage of it
• Real estate market trends
• Restructuring and strengthening your rental policies during COVID19
• The great transfer of wealth is happening
• How to use market trends to your advantage
• The impact the presidential election will have on real estate investing

You can’t control the economy, but you can control your own economy. 

Mike's FREE e-Book

Radical Real Estate Revolution

Mike's Book Recommendations:

Abundance: The Future is Better Than You Think (Peter Diamondis)

BOLD: How to Go Big, Create Wealth and Impact the World (Peter Diamondis & Steven Kotler)

Get In Touch with Mike

Mike Wolf Mastery