161: Reflections with Jacob Ayers

With Thanksgiving approaching this week, it’s a great time to reflect and think about what you are thankful for. Gratitude and being thankful are important qualities in one’s life. I say qualities, but for me I try to make them more of a habit by writing down one simple thing or person I’m thankful for everyday. Doing this, puts everything in perspective in the present. In that moment of gratitude, you’re not looking towards the future. You’re not focusing on your goals. You are simply looking around you and noticing all the great things in your life. This practice will help ground you and show you that you have so much to be thankful for right now, from material things to people and relationships.

Speaking of people and relationships, another thing that’s been on my mind recently is how much you can learn from others. Every single person you meet in this life knows something you don’t. Keep that in mind as you meet new people, catch up with old friends, or the next time you see that friend, spouse, family member, or coworker. Everyone knows something you don’t. You can learn something new just by talking with people. That’s really the entire premise of this podcast. From ultra-successful and experienced real estate investors like Brian Burke, Vinney Chopra, Keith Wienhold, Joe Fairless, Ivan Barrat, Andrew Campbell, Reed Goossens,and Rod Kleif (just to name a few), to up and coming young-guns like Christian Montalvo, Lane Kawaoka, Brent Kawakami, and David Pere, each and every one of these people have something they can share and teach almost anyone. It’s been a pleasure and great experience getting to bring these people on the podcast, and share their journeys, experiences, and stories with you. I’m sure you’ve taken away a lot of awesome stuff from each one of these people, as I know I have. But beyond these awesome go-getters, there is something to be learned from everyone. If you simply tried to take away one little nugget of information from every person you speak to,then imagine the wealth of knowledge you’ll accumulate over the long term.

Here are just a few takeaways and reflections of just a few of the many great guests we’ve had on the podcast.

Smile, be happy, and treat others well. This is the mantra of Vinney “Mr. Smiles” Chopra. Vinney has a true rags to riches story, coming to the U.S. from India as a young man with only $7 in his pocket. He started out selling bibles door to door. Vinney became an engineer, then transitioned into multifamily syndication where he has experienced enormous success, completing over 26 successful syndications over the recent years. Vinney credits much of his success to the people he surrounds himself with. If you’ve heard either of Vinney’s episodes on the podcast, you know that he is a very pleasant and positive person.

The scarcity mentality is abundant, and the abundance mentality is scarce. Keith Weinhold, host of  Get Rich Education, practices and preaches the abundance mentality. Keith values his return on time invested, just as much as his return on money. He shows you how you too can achieve financial freedom through real estate investing while building a lifestyle by design.

Build it and they will come. This has been Joe Fairless’ strategy for building his $400,0000,000 real estate empire in his 30’s. Joe has built a brand, which he famously calls The Best Ever, consisting of the longest running daily real estate podcast, a blog, videos, books, events, and masterminds. Joe is a proponent for finding a mentor and learning from them. He has taught and mentored hundreds of real estate investors to do what he does – buy apartments. Joe condenses his experiences into three principals, which he calls his 3 Immutable Laws of Real Estate:

  1. Buy for cash flow, not appreciation
  2. Secure long term debt
  3. Have adequate cash reserves

Building a crash-proof portfolio. After acquiring more than 1,000 single family homes, Rod Khleif saw his net worth swell by $17M in one year, only to lose everything in the 2008 financial crash. Rod switched gears, and went on to build a multifamily portfolio, better realizing the economies of scale and seeing how this asset class performed when his single family portfolio weathered away in the crash. While still growing his own portfolio, Rod teaches others how to invest for the long haul like he does by buying large apartment deals.

Scaling with partnerships. After building a portfolio of over 70 units consisting of small multifamily properties, Andrew Campbell partnered up with Reed Goosens to form Wildhorn Capital. They have learned from some of the best people in the business, and coupled with their own individual experiences, have gone on buy over 1100 units across Texas in the past few years. Andrew credits much of his success to finding the right partner who’s skills compliment his. These two guys have experienced exponential growth and the sky is the limit for them. You can find Andrew and Reed at conferences across the country, speaking, listening and constantly learning.

Get things done. Christian Montalvo is a doer. She started investing in her mid-20’s with the traditional house hack. Her and her husband, Cameron, bought their very first home – a duplex, living in one side and renting out the other. Learning pretty much everything along the way, Christian and Cameron have grown their portfolio of small multi-family properties, supplementing their income, living for free, and building wealth along the way. Grit and determination are two qualities they have carried with them in their real estate journey.

Network and set big goals. David Pere hasn’t let geography stop him from networking, building relationships, and investing thousands of miles away. Stationed in Hawaii with the Marines, David has built a network of friends who share similar interests to him – achieving wealth and financial freedom through real estate investing. David also hasn’t let living in one of the most expensive markets in the country stop him from investing. He has purchased over 60 units in his home market of Missouri and shares his journey with others, inspiring his fellow military personnel and working class people alike, that they too can invest in real estate.

Each and every one of these people have taught me something, as I’m sure they have you as well. This is just a small sample size of the people in this world that you can learn from. If you take this approach, and make a conscious effort to listen to people and understand their points and perspectives, I think the world would be a much better place.

With the holiday seasons already here, it reminds me of spending time with family, travelling, and the inevitable new years resolutions. While I love spending time with family and travelling, I have come to dislike new years resolutions. They just don’t make any sense to me. Why wait until an arbitrary calendar date to make a resolution in your life? Rather, take some of your down time over the holiday season to finish your yearly goals out strongly. Don’t coast, but rather gear up and continue improving. Get a jump start on those next year goals now.

If you’re having trouble or would like someone to bounce some ideas off, feel free to reach out to me for a completely free strategy session. I would be happy to be a sounding board and offer my advice where I can. The same goes if you have any questions or would like to talk real estate investing.

Throughout this podcast, we talk a lot about goals. If you can’t tell, I’m quite the goal oriented person. I think setting goals and striving towards achieving them is important. I’m not sure if that’s the best approach for everyone, but it definitely fits my personality style well.

But just as important as goal setting, are the people who you chose to surround yourself with. New years resolutions, goals, vision boards, books, conferences, etc. are all important. But you may be constantly holding yourself back by surrounding yourself with people who don’t bring out the best in you.

“Your network determines your net worth”

By surrounding yourself with people who are doing what it is you want, are where you want to be, and know what you want to know, you’ll start to become that person you want to be. It’s okay to be the least experienced, least intelligent, least accomplished person in your circle of friends. In fact, that should be the goal. By surrounding yourself with these types of people, you’ll begin to think and act differently. If you don’t know anyone right now that fits that bill, then find someone and seek them out. You can meet people at events, meetups, online, etc. There are so many ways in which you can network. If you think that I might be that someone, feel free to reach out to me. I’m happy to meet new people and talk with them. Remember all those successful real estate investors and young hustlers we mentioned above? I’ve obviously talked with every single one of them, and have even developed friendships and professional connections with most of them.

So in summary, be thankful for the people you have in your life. Be thankful for all the good in your life. Seek out the good – good people, good experience, and good memories. Continue building your real estate empire, full steam ahead.