Brian Trippe gives a powerful keynote on the power of building connections and relationships in the real estate business.

However, more so than just theory, Brian gives the how-to, step-by-step instructions on how he built one of the largest networks in the real estate space.

Today's guest, Nathan Brooks, joins us from Kansas City. Birmingham and Kansas City are both big cash flowing markets. Today's episode talks about some aspects of turnkey companies and what parameters define a turnkey investment, as well as the importance of leadership and values in growing successful businesses.

Key Takeaways:

[2:00] Nathan is an investor in Kansas City, co-owner and CEO of Bridge Turnkey Investments. They have their turnkey company, a Keller Williams team, and also a meetup they started a few months ago.

[3:35] He started in real estate about 12 years ago, and began as a buy-and-hold investor. The market crash hit him pretty hard, but one of the things that brought them success after the crash is their philosophy on leadership and the flow of leadership from the top all the way to their clients.

[6:45] Before the crash, Nathan didn't feel prepared in a way that was meaningful to actually know what was coming and what potential issues could be. He now has a much larger focus and understanding of the business.

[8:47] One of the driving factors behind returning back to the real estate business after the crash was to leave legacy wealth for his family, and also give money to health, arts, and education. There were a lot of things he learned not to do, and there were a lot of lessons to be learned in terms of how to manage a team and a business.

[11:35] Nathan now has a totally different understanding and respect of what it takes to lead your team. They've been able to create their culture to define how they approach their clients and what standards they have for processes and properties.

[13:05] Nathan brought on a business partner in 2015, Nathan is aware of his strengths and weaknesses in the business, and understanding his skill set allowed him to partner with someone who complements those strengths and weaknesses.

[17:15] Brian and Nathan have a little banter about what makes a turnkey company a turnkey company. The main contingency is having a third party that does the property management. In their company, Bridge has come up with a system to ensure that they buy the right house, renovate to their standard, and complete a quality audit. The main reason they outsource the property management at Bridge is so that they can provide the best service. It wasn't a strength, but by outsourcing, they ensure they are providing management that will be good for their tenants.

[25:25] The meetup group they started is one of the main pillars of their business. It is a great opportunity for community and as a place to do business. They hope this will have a much larger impact on people and their ability to grow and learn in real estate.

[28:00] Their group has four principles that they are centered around: connect, learn, help others, and take action. They use this to guide relationships with partners and mentors, who are people or groups in the community. The core values have attracted over 2,000 members to the meetup since it started in December.

[31:30] As they continue to grow, they hope to give people a place to belong, regardless of where they are in their real estate journey.

Mentioned in This Episode:

Nathan's Facebook

Bridge Turnkey Investments

Meetup

Meetings

Daily REIA Show

REI Facebook Page

Brian's Book

Today's guest is the youngest REI Live has seen yet. David Toupin is an investor in Michigan who deal primarily with multi-family units. At only 23 years old, David has seen a tremendous amount of success in the real estate business. In today's episode, he talks with Brian about how he started and how he got so successful, as well as specific deal breakdowns and advice for anyone just starting out.

Key Takeaways:

[1:10] David is 23 right now and started investing in college. He had been listening to podcasts and reading books and after internships in auditing and investment banking, he was ready to break into the space. He has an entrepreneurial background from a landscaping business he started when he was 13.

[3:55] Now David owns apartment buildings and syndicates apartment complexes. He buys properties by raising capital through investors, acquires the properties, pays the investors a return, and then after making improvements to the properties and raising rents, they either sell or hold it long-term.

[5:25] David's entrepreneurial spirit started when he would mow the lawns of the people in his neighborhood. He was self-sufficient in getting around and he sold the business and equipment when he went to college.

[8:25] When he first got started, the most important thing for David was meeting the right people. He met a guy who lived in the same area that he did and started doing some small fix and flips under his mentorship. Having a mentor made it real for David, and after a while, he knew real estate would be sustainable.

[11:05] He moved into the multi-family market as a way to make passive income and build long-term wealth. If you buy in the right spots and you know what you're doing, you can make a lot of money. He raised money for his first two deals and self-managed and operated them.

[13:30] If you're someone new who is starting out, write down five people who you know you need to meet in order to take you to the next level. After you write down these five people, try to find who you know that knows that person and may be able to give you an introduction.

[16:45] David is young, but he has educated himself enough that he is confident about his deals and projects when he goes to raise money. Whenever he doesn't know something, he has people who are good at those things. It's all about having a good team around you.

[18:20] When you're trying to raise money, it can be difficult if you don't already have a track record. The best thing to do is to keep it simple and have integrity! Integrity is the number one most important thing, especially since investors are giving their hard-earned money.

[22:15] They exited his first deals about a year-and-a-half after buying them. One of the mistakes he made in his first deals was not raising enough money for repairs (you never want to have to go back to your investors). David bought these properties for $560,000 a piece. They raised about $15,000 and $30,000 extra for repairs and renovations. They bumped the rent up about $100. They sold for $1.3 million and were able to get investors about a 14% overall return.

[26:20] When talking with investors, they share a plan of what the annual return goal is, as well as the goal overall when they sell the property. The goal is to be conservative with a plan they intend to hit. It's always good to undersell and over-perform.

[29:05] David currently lives in a property that he owns and rents out. He bought it from someone who owned MANY real estate deals in the Michigan area. They negotiated a price way under market value, and since then they've been able to raise the rent with manageable renovation budgets.

[32:05] David gets paid through the acquisition fee, and he also self-manages the property and gets management fees. He also gets a piece of equity in the property. When they sell the property, David gets 30% equity in the deal.

[35:30] Anyone who is willing to put in the work can do this and be making this money as well. On a day-to-day basis, David analyzes deals, meets with his partner, and meets with investors.

Mentioned in This Episode:

Obsidian Capital

Email David: [email protected]

Facebook

Meetings

Daily REIA Show

REI Facebook Page

Brian's Book

Chris Prefontaine from Rhode Island joins Brian today to talk about creative deal structures (subject to, lease option, owner financing). This is a niche in real estate that hasn't been discussed as much on the podcast. In this episode, Chris talks about his pivot into "terms" real estate. He talks about his company's process, some important things to watch out for when created agreements, as well as how this type of investing differs from wholesaling or rehabbing.

Key Takeaways:

[1:43] Chris operates a family company out of Newport, RI. They buy and sell homes every month on terms (no banks). They sell throughout Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Connecticut. In addition to the local company, they have students across the country that they help sell on terms the same way they do at the company.

[3:20] Chris started in the real estate business by going to landowners, putting a sign in their yard, package a finished house with a builder, and then sell the whole thing. Without knowing it, they were doing everything on terms at that point. He was a broker for a while and then started coaching and doing his own deals.

[5:50] Before the market crash in 2008, Chris had been doing condominium conversions. They did the legal work to turn them into condo buildings, but once the market crashed, there was no funding. They were on the loans personally, and it took him four years to recover. The lesson learned was not wanting to be responsible to guarantee the loans, which is how they moved into terms.

[8:05] As a transaction engineer, you should know how to do things like wholesaling or rehabbing, in case a lead comes your way. It's important when you're first starting out to spend some time finding your niche. At Chris's company, they don't focus on those niches of the industry.

[10:08] When they get a call (usually after they've been pre-vetted to see if they are open to selling on lease purchase or owner financing), they determine whether the seller needs and wants their cash now, or if they want the best price and can afford to wait for a better option.

[12:25] Chris has nine steps to success in his book. The first few focus on the lead generation but picking up at number four is placing the lead or property into the proper "bucket." This involves asking the right questions/gauging conditions to figure out which term option to use: sandwich lease purchase, subject to purchase, or owner financing.

[14:30] About two-thirds of their properties are sandwich lease options. They still get quite a few of these, even though perhaps, across the board, there aren't as many as there used to be. Chris has set up his business to keep their clients mortgage-ready til their leads actually get converted.

[19:15] Lease option is essentially a rent-to-own plan. The agreement is super important for making this method successful. You can check with your local REIA to see if there's an attorney who could help you. A good agreement has the ability to assign the contract back to the seller or a buyer, as well as placing responsibility on the seller for mold, lead, and asbestos that may not have been caught or brought up initially.

[22:55] In lease options, when they are selling, they have the option agreement, then an actual lease. On the buying side, there is one agreement. The importance of the assignability is to limit liability.

[24:35] Once you have a seller, you have to find a qualified tenant buyer. Most wholesalers and rehabbers teach to build your buyers' list first, but Chris doesn't necessarily advocate that. If you're doing your first lease option deal, you'll build your buyers' list pretty quickly. The lease option may not be the best way to go if you're only doing one or two a year, but it's still worth it to go to the training so it's another tool in your toolbox.

[27:30] Throughout this episode, Chris has mentioned the three paydays. The first one is the non-refundable down payment that comes in. This is cash now. The cash over time is the second payday. This is the difference between what you're buying out to the mortgage company and what you're collecting. The third payday is the cashout, which is all of the principal pay down benefit plus the mark-up in the price.

[28:25] The downside to doing deals like this would be if the market crashed and you didn't have the proper agreements. You have to make sure you're covered in case anything should happen. When compared to wholesaling, the tenant acts, behaves, and pays for things like they own it, they just don't have the mortgage in their name yet. Property management is not as involved as in wholesaling, but you do have to monitor your tenants.

[30:50] A lease option deal does take longer to complete from start to finish than maybe a rehab or a wholesale. The price of the burden is that if you have several deals at once, you can count on when your paydays will come in, and also have some more freedom because you're not having to find deals as quickly.

[32:15] Chris has mentioned the importance of someone brand new picking one niche and sticking with it. It's easy to get distracted by different things, but if you focus on one niche, you can really build a business or see if it's not for you and pivot to something else.

If you'd like to connect with Chris and learn more about what he does, you can visit freesrecbook.com.

Mentioned in This Episode:

Meetings

Daily REIA Show

REI Facebook Page

Brian's Book

Real Estate on Your Terms: Create Continuous Cash Flow Now, Without Using Your Cash Or Credit, by Chris Prefontaine

Chris's Website

Chris's Mortgage Specialist: Jesse Mills

On today's episode, one of the leading minds on networking joins Brian on the show to talk about some of the concepts from his book, 7L: The 7 Levels of Communication. Michael Maher talks about the importance of networking and building up referrals. Michael and Brian talk about some of the different levels of communication, and which ones are most important to start building your army of ambassadors.

Key Takeaways:

[2:00] Michael's book, 7L: The 7 Levels of Communication, is essentially the book on referrals. The information is geared toward helping you attract referrals through communication. He goes over how to use the levels of communication to build your "army of ambassadors."

[3:55] In many industries, people focus on quantity rather than quality. If you build your list with high-level types of relationships, you'll have a group of real ambassadors for you, rather than a large number of superficial followers. Appreciate your biggest supporters, so you don't lose them.

[8:30] One of the aspects of communication focuses on one on one communication and scaling one at a time. Hosting events allows you to maximize your time to connect individually with others. Identify the people who are the most valuable in your business, and make sure you are communicating with them on a regular basis.

[12:00] The 7L system helps people build their business with love, generosity, and appreciation. When you're communicating with your most valuable player, it's important to focus first on how you can help them. By being generous, you are adding value by finding out how to help them.

[15:00] As networkers and people who want referrals, we have to be great listeners. This is the most important aspect of follow-up. When you ask the questions, make sure you are really listening and paying attention to the answer they gave you. They can tell if you're sincere about hearing them out.

[18:20] These principles are based on social psychology, and a branch of that is influence. You need to have a statement/answer for when people ask what they can do for you.

[22:40] We have control over generosity, which leads to reciprocity. We have control over the message of reciprocity. This is when you need to be specific with how people can help you. An additional level is appreciation. We are more inclined to do something in the future for people who have expressed their appreciation before.

[27:40] We all need to be a people person. If you're a person who is not a people person, you have to figure out how to overcome that by thinking about why you don't like interacting with others. The 7L system gives you control over almost everything, so you can connect in a way that's comfortable for you and you can also help orchestrate conversations between other people as well.

[30:50] There is a lot of power in hosting events. As a host, you add value to a lot of people at one time, and you also serve as an indirect facilitator of conversations. Speakers and sessions are on a one-to-many level, and the conversations that happen throughout are on the one-to-one level.

[35:30] When you're hosting an event, it's also important to get sponsors and to partner with a charity or other nonprofit.

Mentioned in This Episode:

Meetings

Daily REIA Show

REI Facebook Page

Brian's Book

7L: The Seven Levels of Communication: Go From Relationships to Referrals, by Michael J. Maher

The Go Giver: A Little Story About a Powerful Business Idea, by Bob Burg and John David Mann

Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, by Robert B. Cialdini

Birmingham area market update using January 2019 data.

Visit www.robdrum.us for more data analysis from Rob Drum.

Email Rob at [email protected]

Today's episode invites returning guest, Alex Pardo of Miami, FL, to talk about the importance of mastermind groups, and the investments we make to better ourselves and our businesses. Brian and Alex talk about creating value by hosting and being on podcasts, as well as the benefits they've received by joining different mastermind groups. They also discuss how to go about getting involved in these groups and how you can test the waters to see if one is a good fit.

Key Takeaways:

[2:30] Alex hosts his own podcast, the FlipEmpire Show. He started the podcast because he loves being able to talk about real estate, entrepreneurship, marketing, and personal development.

[5:47] He's been releasing two episodes a week since he launched his first episode in June of 2016. The platform has been a great way to connect with other investors, like Brian, and to put out content that would be helpful based on Alex's experience in his business. Some of these benefits are joint ventures, consulting clients, and affiliate clients.

[8:05] When you do something like a host a podcast, you become an authority on that subject. You can add value to other people's journeys, and then this may come back to you someday.

[10:07] As far as consulting clients go, people come to him through the podcast if they want to scale up their business. One of the great opportunities here is that Alex has the chance to make an impact that could have a ripple effect for several people, not just for the direct contact.

[15:00] Brian and Alex both talk about the relationships they have built by attending masterminds (particularly the one where they met), and the return on investment they've experienced since then. It's not about the information that's in the room, it's about the people in the room. When you make an investment to be part of a group where other people have made the same investment, there is a lot of power in being in these groups.

[17:55] Alex is part of several masterminds. One is The Collective Genius and another is the Lifeonaire group. Each of these groups provides a different value for Alex's life.

[20:30] One of the push-backs Brian hears is that attending these masterminds takes time out of business and family time. Alex counters this by bringing his family on some of the trips and also telling how this time actually helps his business in the future. There are conversations and presentations that may not be relevant at the current time but could be useful in the future.

[24:00] You don't necessarily have to join a mastermind to get some of these benefits. You can attend seminars, conferences, or intensives to get information to help you grow your business. Whatever event you attend or group you join, it needs to be in alignment with where you want to go with your business.

[26:00] If you're looking to join a mastermind, make sure you take the time to research the options. Interview the hosts, and most will allow you to come for a day or two for free before making the investment if you decide it's the right fit for you. You want to be in a room that scares you.

[29:20] In addition to the masterminds Alex is a part of, he also has his own real estate business. He's able to engage in these other events because he's hired the right people, and has systems in place that allow him to get out of the way. To build his team, he took inventory of everything he had going in his business and personally, and saw what these things were costing him. Determine a threshold to see what you will outsource based on how much it's costing you.

If you'd like to connect with Alex, you can go to Alex's website.

Mentioned in This Episode:

Meetings

Daily REIA Show

REI Facebook Page

Brian's Book

Watch this Episode

Alex's Podcast — FlipEmpire Show

REI Episode 22

In today's episode, Brian talks with private money authority Jay Conner. Based in North Carolina, Jay has been using private money for investing for nearly ten years. On the show today, he shares his story, as well as teaches and educates this audience on how they can raise private money with the five steps he uses.

Key Takeaways:

[1:50] Jay and his wife are in their 15th year of investing in single-family houses, as well as some commercial real estate. He was born into the affordable housing industry, and his dad was the largest retailer of mobile homes in the nation.

[3:50] They do about two to three transactions a month, with an average profit of $67,000 per deal. These transactions are primarily rehab projects, and they did 27 in 2018. A critical part of the success of their business is automation and building their team. Jay makes decisions, and also has an acquisitionist, virtual assistants to do the marketing/finding leads, a bookkeeper, and he works with contractors for the projects.

[8:20] Many people in the rehab business find that it's not scalable, but Jay has been able to set his business up differently. It's all down to getting people on your team that you can trust to do a good job and get things done on time. It took him about a year to put his systems in place to automate his business.

[11:10] Jay backed into the private money sector out of necessity. He had been reliant on traditional lending, but when his bank collapsed his line of credit, he learned what private money was and quickly put a system together to raise over $2 million in less than 90 days.

[16:25] Private money is doing business with an individual, rather than an institution or a company. Jay shares the five steps he took to get the money raised.

1. Make a list of the top 50 people that you have connections to that are influential within their communities.
2. Share a simple, short conversation about opening up your real estate business to people you can trust, and explain what you are doing and asking for referrals. This spreads the word about your program.
3. Jay has an audio recording to introduce people to the concept of private money. He gave this to people and asked for feedback.
4. Have a one-on-one meeting to go over the private lending program and how it will work for them.
5. Find a deal that will match their range of investment.

[25:20] One of the keys to Jay's method is that he doesn't go around asking for money. The way that he's framed it is completely opposite. This is more effective because he frames himself as a teacher, and when he's not asking for money, he can't lose. When people ask what he does, he says he teaches private lenders how to get great rates of return on their investment capital and retirement funds.

[28:40] If you are new to private lending, it would be good to joint venture with a seasoned investor. When they can joint venture with someone new, they can benefit from the deals and you can leverage their experience.

[31:25] If you've already been doing deals, maybe you need to figure out what to say that better explains your private lending program. You could have a sit-down conversation, or put together a type of presentation. Jay shares some other tips about what to focus on during this conversation or presentation, as well as information you can educate interested people on.

[37:55] For any new real estate investors listening, please do not go about doing this business alone when you're first getting started. Join forces with somebody who knows what they're doing and don't wait too long to start taking action.

[38:50] Recap of the five steps: 1. Make your list of influencers 2. Have a casual conversation 3. Create the audio 4. Go over your program in a one-on-one conversation 5. Share a verbal pledge or range of investment they have to work with.

Mentioned in This Episode:

 Meetings

Daily REIA Show

REI Facebook Page

Brian's Book

Watch this Episode

Jay's Website

Online Masterclass

Jay's Podcast

In this episode, Brian Trippe, and Adam Adams cover how their mindset and philosophy has lead to great success, Brian's new project REI Live, and his numerous seperate endevours in the realm of Real Estate

Topics discussed:

1. Real Estate Meetups
2. Mindset
3. Innovation

Links mentioned in this episode:

• Instagram Username: brianjtrippe

In today's episode, Brian is joined by Adam A. Adams to talk about apartment syndication. Dealing with mostly multi-family properties, Adam breaks down what syndication is, how it compares to single-family investing, and shares some advice for people who may want to be involved in syndication deals. He also breaks down the workload of his team so listeners can really understand what all goes into making syndication a successful real estate process.

Key Takeaways:

[1:25] Adam has been investing in real estate for about 13 years and only a few years into his investing, he got into multi-family properties. About a year and a half ago they started acquiring properties through syndication. Adam shares the story of how his dad gifted him his first property and was a big influence in his start in the real estate venture.

[4:10] Adam read Rich Dad, Poor Dad and realized Robert Kiyosaki made his wealth from doing multi-family investing.

[5:40] Adam started first as a property manager. He wanted to manage each of his properties so he could keep the money he was making and also know what it takes to manage your property. This is not necessarily a path he recommends for other people getting started; it is smarter to own the asset yourself and hire someone to manage it.

[10:45] Adam's dad played a big role in Adam's real estate career. He grew up being on site with his dad's rental properties, and real estate became second nature to him. He embraced real estate as a way to increase his passive income.

[13:50] With the story of Adam's dad giving him his first property and making him pay the $100 for it, Adam looks back and tries to understand it from his dad's perspective. He was a kid who wanted to do things his own way and giving him the property was an open door for him to get into real estate. When he got money for the property, he realized the type of return on investment he could get with real estate.

[18:25] Syndication means that you're using a lot of different avenues with little effort. Larger properties tend to be safer, and syndication was a way to allow them to purchase bigger assets by partnering with a lot of people who can add value.

[21:50] They use the syndication method because they want to help people find a safe place for their money besides the stock market or a single rental. In addition to his large property syndication, Adam has about 23 smaller rentals, so he knows about the cash flow comparison between both avenues.

[29:35] If you want to try to syndicate multi-family real estate, the first thing to do is find a coach or mentor who can lead you through the syndication space. This includes how it works, the differences between how the properties are valued, and how to cut your expenses. If you want to run the show, it will likely be a full-time job. The next thing to do is to partner with people who are already successful in the syndication space so you can start to build credibility.

[33:45] If you want to do syndication but not run the show, you can align yourself with a team who has a good track record and help bring money to their deals.

[36:35] Adam has a team of about six people, and he breaks down the roles of each team and what it takes to make their company work every day. Adam's main role is to speak at other people's REIAs, podcasts, and to host events. They also have a social media person to get the word out about what you're doing so people know. They also have an admin to handle paperwork and make sure everything is in order. There is a market research team and an underwriter who works very closely with that team. The most important person on their team is the asset manager, who checks on the properties and makes sure the assets are performing.

Mentioned in This Episode:

Meetings

Daily REIA Show

REI Facebook Page

Brian's Book

Watch This Episode

Adam's Website

Creative Real Estate Podcast