For this episode, I am excited to have Dan Rochon on the show. As a real estate sales agent, Dan and his team are consistently top producers in their marketplace. Through their investment company, Dan and Traci Rochon have been investing in residential and commercial real estate for more than a decade. Dan‘s purpose in life is to help people achieve greatness through his teaching, coaching, and mentorship. He leads the Greetings Virginia Sales Network for his agents and staff to exceed their client‘s expectations. Additionally, Dan is the author of Real Estate Evolution: The Ten Step Guide to C.P.I. (Consistent and Predictable Income) for Real Estate Agents.   We started, as we usually do, diving into Dan’s background and how he got into real estate investing. Dan said in 2005 he was working as a waiter in Washington DC, living a very unhealthy lifestyle and he realized he needed to make a change. He knew that he wanted to be a business owner and found that getting his agent’s license and opening an agency required less capital than the franchises he was considering. He started selling in late 2007, which of course we all know was an incredibly difficult time to be starting in this industry. He ended up buying the brokerage about a year and a half after getting his sales license, which he ran for about ten years.   Dan has a ton going on with his business so I wanted to explore some of that. I asked him first to talk about his book Real Estate Evolution. Dan said that one of his mentors asked him to document everything he had learned by being in business, with real estate sales, and personal development. He ended up working every day for thirteen months on this project and found that he had written a book at the end of it. He said that about a third of it is on the subject of personal development so that people can unlock their potential.   Dan talked about changing our thoughts and programming by looking at how we are spending our time, what we are reading, our relationships, and how we are taking care of our health. We discussed a couple of techniques for motivating ourselves, getting a better start to the day, and creating new, positive habits. Dan also talked about the power of our subconscious mind and taking a look at what we dream to see what kinds of thoughts that part of our brain is feeding back to us. Recurring negative, limiting thoughts can hinder our growth.   We then discussed some of the specific advice Dan gives real estate agents to help them be more successful. He said that comparatively it is fairly easy to become an agent so a lot of them do not study the industry or take it seriously enough. One of the things that has helped him in dealing with his clients is to let them know all of the possible outcomes of the process, so that everyone is aware and prepared for possible set-backs or eventualities. Dan also pointed out some ways to read behavior and listen from another’s point of view to be more effective with clients or other agents.   We talked about using personality assessments, tactics of hiring and working with clients, clarifying what our “why” is, and so much more! Don’t miss today’s episode with Dan Rochon on the Just Start Real Estate Podcast!   Notable Quotes:   “You could spit and have a 33% chance of hitting a house that needed your services.” Dan Rochon   “When everyone is running away, you know there is some opportunity there.” Mike Simmons   “As a business owner, stacking cash, being liquid, and preparing for a downturn in the market is the smartest thing you can do.” Mike Simmons   “What did I do to cause the outcome and what could I do differently moving forward to cause a better outcome if it was a mistake. And if it was something that was successful, what did I do to cause that outcome and how can I put it on steroids, how can I amplify it?” Dan Rochon   “I can tell you one variable that is constant with people who struggle and never feel like they are getting what they want - they are always pointing at other people and blaming them for their problems.” Mike Simmons   “It is my firm belief that the first step to any kind of sales training should be how do you become the best possible version of yourself.” Dan Rochon   “Has there ever been a time when I saw someone else embrace affirmations and have a fantastic result as an outcome?” Dan Rochon   “If yes, then how?” Dan Rochon   “Listening to motivational speeches, people really talking from the heart about what it takes to succeed, is super, super effective for me. It starts my day with a much more positive, energetic, get out there and crush it kind of attitude.” Mike Simmons   “A lot of the time, if we think something bad has happened, it is a reflection of something we are afraid of.” Dan Rochon   “Embrace the fear - on the other side is glory.” Dan Rochon   “Many agents are not following the right systems to create a predictable outcome.” Dan Rochon   “A lot of the time, agents don’t understand how to utilize the proper systems or processes to be able to serve the client at a higher level.” Dan Rochon   “It is really just about having the ability to pay attention.” Dan Rochon   “Understand and have clarity on why you are doing what you’re doing.” Dan Rochon   “My big why is to open up doorways for others.” Dan Rochon Links: Level Jumping: How I Grew My Business to Over $1 Million in Profits in 12 Months Extreme Ownership Real Estate Evolution: The Ten Step Guide to C.P.I. (Consistent and Predictable Income) for Real Estate Agents The CPI Community Dan’s Website Dan’s Podcast 7 Figure Flipping Return on Investments Just Start Real Estate JSRE on Facebook Mike on Facebook Mike on Instagram Mike on LinkedIn Mike on Twitter

Just Start Real Estate with Mike Simmons

Consistent and Predictable Income with Dan Rochon

For this episode, I am excited to welcome Stephanie Cabral, who is a buy-and-hold real estate investor and former attorney from Connecticut. Stephanie has built a portfolio over $2.25m and began investing while working at a law firm as the sole member of the probate department and also working as one of the top commercial real estate firms in the world. Stephanie now owns and operates 15 units plus multiple active flips and is responsible for all aspects of the business including marketing, acquisition, construction management, operations, and property management. She specializes in the BRRRR strategy and was able to scale her business using a detailed network of systems, standard operating procedures, automation, and virtual assistants.   Stephanie shares her background with us, pointing out that she is a lawyer by trade. While she loved and thrived in law school, once she got out, she found that she didn’t love practicing as a lawyer. As much as she appreciated her clients, she did not like how adversarial the work was and didn’t like being in an office all day. She ended up buying a duplex in order to use the rental income to qualify for a personal home loan and she fell in love with the idea of house-hacking. She worked as an agent, too, while she was working as a lawyer and continues to since retiring from her firm in December 2019.   Stephanie got a 203K loan for her first property so we explored that topic for a bit. Because the brokers are looking at the ARV, you can get a larger value loan to cover both the purchase price and the rehab estimate. In this type of loan, the contractor gets paid directly from the lender. Also, the 203K loan does not require you to have experience in investing and rehabilitation work, which can be a huge obstacle for newer investors with traditional hard money lenders. You also get a consultant that helps you manage the project and ensure the quality of the contractors’ work.   I asked Stephanie to describe the team of people she is working with to us. She said she is very involved herself, but her right hand is a virtual assistant in the Philippines who handles all of the administrative tasks, including social media and a lot of the property management tasks, including interfacing with the tenants. Stephanie also has a leasing assistant who directly connects with potential tenants and shows them around and screens them for rentability. She also has a bookkeeper who she hired through Upwork that has been working with her for years, but Stephanie did talk about the need to go through the trial and error process to find some people that are really good. Stephanie talked about the need to have great systems and processes in place, including training videos and templates, in order to simplify the training procedure. I asked Stephanie why she self-manages her properties versus hiring a property management company. She said that it is financially beneficial for her to self-manage, mostly because she has very little turnover in tenants. She attributes this to the constant communication she has with her tenants, which is largely automated, but maintains a great connection. I asked how she handles any required repairs, and since she is having a VA handle the maintenance requests, how she is sure she is not getting over-charged. Stephanie explained that because she also does house flipping, she has a pool of contractors, and in particular, a go-to handyman who is always the first maintenance call.   We talked about mid-term rentals, the effects of COVID on Stephanie’s business, the BRRRR strategy, private money versus hard money lenders, the technology Stephanie uses to run her business, Facebook ads, and so much more! Don’t miss this honest, fun, and hard-core real estate episode with lawyer-turned-investor, Stephanie Cabral! Notable Quotes:   “Being in an office environment was not the life I wanted to live.” Stephanie Cabral   “What was one of the greatest frustrations at the time ended up being the greatest gift.” Stephanie Cabral   “I didn’t even know that I was investing - I thought I was living cheaply and being resourceful.” Stephanie Cabral   “Being resourceful is certainly one of my superpowers.” Stephanie Cabral   “The power of real estate as an investment really opened up for me.” Stephanie Cabral   “So the way you eat an elephant is one bite at a time.” Desmond Tutu, quoted by Stephanie Cabral   “It requires some administrative stamina to get through the paperwork for a 203K loan.” Stephanie Cabral   “I do make it a priority to automate and delegate as much as humanly possible.” Stephanie Cabral   “Find somebody with a natural skill set that you are looking for and then you train the rest.” Stephanie Cabral   “As far as delegating work, start with the task that is most repetitive that is causing the most brain damage.” Stephanie Cabral   “Put yourself out there so people know what you are doing and that you are involved.” Stephanie Cabral   “I have been raising private money since 2008 and I think ‘talk about what you are doing’ is the number one advice.” Mike Simmons   “If you ask for money, you are going to get advice. If you ask for advice, you will get money.” Mike Simmons   “I’m tech heavy, but not tech savvy.” Stephanie Cabral   “The concept of ‘Just Start’ is so important. You don’t have to be super knowledgeable, but you have to be action-oriented.” Stephanie Cabral Links: Level Jumping: How I Grew My Business to Over $1 Million in Profits in 12 Months Upwork CoreAssist Podio PayYourRent Google Drive SoapBox Docusign Fiverr Stephanie’s Website 7 Figure Flipping Return on Investments Just Start Real Estate JSRE on Facebook Mike on Facebook Mike on Instagram Mike on LinkedIn Mike on Twitter 

203K Loans and Using the BRRRR Method for Rental Real Estate

For this episode, I am happy to welcome Rachel Richards on to the show! Only 27 years old, former financial advisor Rachel Richards has made a name for herself in the personal finance realm. In 2019, Rachel quit her job and retired, with over $10,000 per month in passive income! She is the bestselling author of Money Honey and Passive Income, Aggressive Retirement. Rachel is also a real estate investor with 35 rental units. Her valuable money lessons have helped thousands of millennials work their way out of financial despair. She has successfully done what no one has done before: made the topic of money management fun, entertaining, and simple!   Rachel gave us a bit of her background, telling us that she paid her way through school by selling Cutco Cutlery and therefore, had sales experience. This, coupled with her passion for teaching people about finances, is what led her to become a financial advisor. She said she didn’t last long because she wasn’t a fan of cold-calling people for clients. She had always been interested in real estate investing and had read a ton about it, so she worked for a time with another investor, and then a real estate agent. These experiences gave her the confidence to get into investing on her own and in 2017, Rachel and her husband bought their first duplex when she was 24 years old.   I asked Rachel to give us the details of her first deal - how she found it and how she financed it. Because she had her real estate license by this time, she said she had an advantage, because she had access to the MLS. She found the property she wanted, but the listing was expired, so she contacted the agent and found out that the owners were going to list it again once they had done some work to it. Because Rachel stayed in contact with the agent, she called Rachel a couple of days before it was listed again and gave her the chance to make an offer. They financed it conventionally, having both saved money after college for the down payment, and they managed to get a seller concession for the renovation that they had to do.   Rachel started writing her books while she was still working full-time and managing their rental properties, so we talked about how that came about for a bit. She said her family and friends had been asking her for financial advice for a while and she wanted to take this topic, which was normally boring and confusing, and make it fun and simple for people to understand. She said it felt like her first book, Money Honey, was always inside of her and she tried to make finances easier to learn about by sharing her own stories and mistakes. We also discussed Rachel’s second book, Passive Income, Aggressive Retirement, in which she discusses twenty-eight different passive income models that anyone can get involved with, regardless of age or station in life.   I asked Rachel to describe how she proceeded with her investing as she moved forward from the first deal. She shared with us that the different ways having her real estate license benefited her. She continued to monitor the MLS for potential deals, using subscriptions and saved searches so that she would get email notifications for properties she was interested in. She felt like this gave her a real time advantage, as she could be at a property within 30 minutes of it being listed.    Even though Rachel and her husband are no longer actively investing because they have the rental income they wanted to achieve, Rachel is still very passionate about teaching others about financial literacy so she is invested in creating online courses. The first one that she has created is called “Get Your Financial $hit Together” which you can check out by following the links below.   Join me as I interview this incredibly impressive investor and financial guru as she shares some of the secrets of how she earned financial independence! Don’t miss today’s episode with Rachel Richards on the Just Start Real Estate Podcast!   Notable Quotes:   “To me, real estate is one of the best tools for building long-term wealth. From an early age, I knew that this was going to be my path to financial independence.” Rachel Richards   “From a very early age, I tried to save 50% of my income.” Rachel Richards   “Just get creative… there are ways you can do this.” Mike Simmons   “The last thing you want to do is operate from a place of panic and desperation.” Rachel Richards   “I just try not to take myself too seriously.” Rachel Richards   “I am not afraid to admit when I am making mistakes and doing embarrassing things.” Rachel Richards   “Having my real estate license was brilliant because I was the buyer’s agent on all of our deals and would get a significant check at closing, which helped us continue investing.” Rachel Richards   “There are some things you can’t be cheap with, like property management.” Rachel Richards   “Hopefully someone will learn from my mistakes.” Rachel Richards    “For us, real estate investing is a means to an end.” Rachel Richards   “The way I define passive income is that it is money that is earned with little or no ongoing effort.” Rachel Richards Links: Level Jumping: How I Grew My Business to Over $1 Million in Profits in 12 Months Rich Dad Poor Dad Money Honey: A Simple 7-Step Guide For Getting Your Financial $hit Together Passive Income, Aggressive Retirement: The Secret to Freedom, Flexibility, and Financial Independence (& how to get started!) Get Your Financial $hit Together Rachel’s Website 7 Figure Flipping Return on Investments Just Start Real Estate JSRE on Facebook Mike on Facebook Mike on Instagram Mike on LinkedIn Mike on Twitter 

How to Gain Financial Freedom and Retire in your 20s

For this episode, I am excited to welcome fellow 7 Figure Flipping Mastermind group member, Waylon McCulloch. Waylon started his career as a professional dirtbike racer, but after too many injuries moved on to running used car dealerships for the last 15 years. He is now the owner of Discount Realty, a real estate wholesale company located in San Antonio, TX. Along with building and growing his wholesale company that was started 2 1/2 years ago, he owns a couple of other real estate companies that invest in single-family home rentals and owner-financed sales, while running his family's used car dealerships full-time.   We started by exploring Waylon’s background and how real estate investing got onto his radar. When his grandfather moved into an assisted living facility in 2015, Waylon and his dad purchased his house as a means to get started in the business. They purchased a couple of other properties the same year and held them as rentals, but their business stalled until Waylon got very invested in lead generation.   After joining 7 Figure Flipping in April of 2018, Waylon dedicated his time to learning about and growing a wholesaling business. He spent the remainder of that year building out systems and getting things set up. In 2019, they ended up with 18 deals under contract, hired both a lead manager and an acquisitions/dispositions manager, and are hoping to hire a transaction coordinator. We discussed the importance of having certain team members in place in order to maximize your business’ potential, especially if you are still working a full-time job like Waylon.   Waylon expressed an interest in doing more owner-financed deals and so we spent some time exploring this topic, especially how these types of deals may increase due to the pandemic. We talked about how this conversation would go and what type of homeowner would benefit from this arrangement.   Since Waylon has been a member of 7 Figure Flipping for over two years, I asked him what his takeaway is from the group. He said he was so glad that he made the commitment and has met some great people. Waylon said he wasn’t sure he would be where he is today if it weren’t for involvement in this mastermind.   We discussed marketing strategies, working virtually, growing your staff, wholesaling versus flipping, and so much more! Please join me as I welcome Waylon McCulloch to the Just Start Real Estate Family! Notable Quotes: “Real estate is dangerous in different ways than dirt bike racing, but safer physically.” Mike Simmons   “I decided I was either going to make or break it.” Waylon McCulloch   “Having someone to focus on answering all the calls and doing the follow-up made my life a whole lot better.” Waylon McCulloch   “The wholesaling business sure does take a lot of work to get it up and going.” Waylon McCulloch   “I think the biggest misconception in residential real estate is that wholesaling is easy.” Mike Simmons   “You need someone in-house that is really pushing your deals through the title company.” Mike Simmons   “If you don’t have that in your tool bag, you are missing out.” Waylon McCulloch   “COVID had a big impact on my direct mail.” Waylon McCulloch   “Direct mail does bring in deals as long as you are being consistent with it and mailing enough.” Waylon McCulloch   “You need to deep dive and figure out what you are good at.” Waylon McCulloch   “[On wholesaling] I like the idea of being able to control the deals and get to pick when I have the funds to buy another one.” Waylon McCulloch   “I like speed a lot more than watching a rehab project from start to finish.” Mike Simmons   “Some people live for the transformation of flipping, but I can live without it.” Mike Simmons   “I like working on the back-end with buyers and being able to get them something because there are a lot of people that need the deal-flow right now.” Waylon McCulloch   “You can definitely feel like you are on an island in this business so it is nice to connect with people who are on the same journey.” Waylon McCulloch about the 7 Figure Flipping Mastermind   “Imagine how great it would be if you had made all of your life decisions with the benefit of hindsight.” Mike Simmons about the 7 Figure Flipping Mastermind Links: Level Jumping: How I Grew My Business to Over $1 Million in Profits in 12 Months 7 Figure Flipping Discount Realty Dale’s Motor Co. & Bartlett Motors Return on Investments Just Start Real Estate JSRE on Facebook Mike on Facebook Mike on Instagram Mike on LinkedIn Mike on Twitter

Car Dealership Owner Wholesaling 40 Deals (Houses) This Year

In this episode, I’m joined by Kirby Atwell, host of the popular podcast, Living off Rentals. After serving as an officer in the US Army from 2005 – 2011, Kirby left the military to pursue his passion as a full-time entrepreneur, launching and scaling two different real estate investment companies in succession. Kirby holds a BA from United States Military Academy at West Point, and an MBA in real estate finance from the University of Illinois Chicago. While in the military, Kirby served as a Platoon Leader, Executive Officer, Aide-de-Camp to the Commanding General of the 94th AAMDC, and Commander of the AN/TPY-2 homeland defense radar site in Shariki, Japan.   Kirby shared more of his background with us, telling us that he had always had an entrepreneurial itch, and planned to have his own business after serving in the Army. A year after he graduated, he read Rich Dad Poor Dad and knew that he would be a real estate investor for life. When he was stationed in El Paso in 2006, the house across the street went up for sale and he decided to buy his first investment property. Once he was out of the Army, he partnered with a friend and his wife and they started flipping houses in the Chicago area.   Kirby talked about how they grew their business so that, at its height in 2015, they had thirteen team members and around twenty-two deals going every month. What he found, though, was that everyone else kept getting paid, but he wasn’t achieving his goal of building monthly passive income to have eventual financial freedom. He ended up changing his strategy in 2016, sold his flipping business to his partners, and started focusing mostly on investing with the BRRRR strategy. He found a government program called the HUD VASH Voucher, which provides housing for homeless veterans and built a new business around this niche.    I asked Kirby to explain the BRRRR strategy to our listeners with the assumption that we hadn’t used it before. I particularly wanted him to explain how the refinance aspect of this strategy works. He said he struck a deal with a local bank where they would package four properties together and they would give him a commercial loan for 75% of the appraised value. Kirby said that strategy was very effective, but now that the demand for the VASH vouchers has gone down, he is using the same system for short term rentals in the northwest Indiana area.   Kirby explained why he is buying homes in Indiana, telling us how it is almost as though Chicago and the state of Illinois is incentivizing people to move away because of property taxes and other factors. In the area he is investing in, there are several attractions, including Lake Michigan, and it is a great area to have short term rentals. He said that he and his wife are doing the property management themselves for these houses.   I then asked Kirby to talk about the non-profit work that he is involved in. Kirby said the organization is called Bunker Labs and it helps veterans start and grow businesses. He said initially when he got out of the military, he wanted his civilian identity back and was not involved at all with other veterans. But in 2014, he was in the first cohort to go through the program and was so impressed with the founder and the resources he was bringing in to help people. When he switched his investing model to rentals, he found that he had more available time, and the Bunker Labs founder asked him to come on as the COO. He later transitioned to being the CFO, and they have thirty-six chapters across the United States.   We talked about marketing, lead generation, Facebook ads, helping people, and so much more! Don’t miss this transparent, info-packed episode of the Just Start Real Estate Podcast with Kirby Atwell! Notable Quotes:   “I really enjoy talking to successful, smart people, but I love talking to good people who are also successful and smart.”   Mike Simmons     “The harder she worked, the more money she made.”   Kirby Atwell about his mom’s business     “I was really attracted to the buy-and-hold model, but I had to flip initially to get money to buy more houses.”   Kirby Atwell      “We jumped on the flipping treadmill, this perpetual machine that you keep feeding.”   Kirby Atwell     “We were just driving the machine, but not creating what I got into investing for, which was financial freedom.”   Kirby Atwell     “Scaling isn’t for everyone. It sounds like you built this monster that just needed to eat.”   Mike Simmons     “This is really where you have to figure out who you are as a person.”   Kirby Atwell   “I am all about freedom.”   Kirby Atwell     “The dream is to have free time and have a lifestyle.”   Mike Simmons     “I was doing what looked like success on social media.”   Kirby Atwell     “Do what you want to do, but ultimately, don’t be afraid to change if you aren’t happy.”   Mike Simmons      “We only get one shot at this, so let’s make it a good one.”   Mike Simmons     “Doing good things for people and help the world a little bit and make it a little better is about all we can do.”   Mike Simmons   Links: Flip Hacking Live Rich Dad Poor Dad iCandy Homes Bunker Labs Green Vet Homes.com HUD VASH Voucher  Living Off Rentals Podcast Kirby's YouTube Channel Kirby’s YouTube Video on Google Drive Organization Mike’s Interview on Living Off Rentals Return on Investments Just Start Real Estate JSRE on Facebook Mike on Facebook Mike on Instagram Mike on LinkedIn Mike on Twitter Level Jumping: How I Grew My Business to Over $1 Million in Profits in 12 Months 

Long and Short Term Rentals + Nonprofit Work to Help Support Veterans with Kirby Atwell

In this episode, I am excited to welcome on fellow 7 Figure Flipping member, William Morgan. Will is the owner and founder of Penny Lane Equity, a rapidly growing Real Estate flipping and wholesaling company in California’s Central Coast. Will grew what was once a hobby into a thriving business with 7 figure revenue while also having a full-time job. Will has since “cut the cord” and now leads a team of 10 talented professionals as they provide some of the most attractive Real Estate opportunities found anywhere in the region. Once an adrenaline junkie, Will now tempers his thrill-seeking by sharing his love for surfing, the mountains, and travel with his 2 young kids.   We got started as we normally do with Will sharing his background with us and how he got into real estate. He began his corporate career working in the nuclear power industry at the age of eighteen. He worked short contracts in this business and then would take the money he earned to travel and surf. After living this ideal lifestyle for about ten years, he figured he had to grow up, and took on a full-time job in nuclear operations. Real estate got on his radar when a neighbor bought a house through a sheriff’s auction and rehabbed that Will ended up buying in 2003 for his primary residence. Will was fascinated by the whole process and that propelled him into learning about investing on his own.   Will did a lot of research on how to find his first investment property and ended up buying his first in 2004 using conventional financing. The guy he bought his primary residence from turned out to be a mentor in the fix and flip process, helping Will to avoid a lot of rookie mistakes. I asked some questions about this deal and Will shared details about the rehab work and how the numbers worked out.   Will said he approached real estate investing as a hobby because he had a full-time job, so he was happy with picking up one or two properties a year. He was also investing in other ways with stocks and bonds, always studying and learning about different passive income models. Because he had a sense that real estate was part of the impending market disruption, he sold all five of his rentals and his primary residence in 2007.    I asked Will about what systems and processes he had in place in the very beginning of his investing business. He said he didn’t initially, but having very little profit margin in his first deal made it necessary to establish when he started getting back into real estate investing around 2012. He said documenting his work processes was really out of necessity because he had a full-time job and knew there were times he was going to need help, and also to maximize his efficiency.    I wanted Will to tell me what he thought were some of the biggest challenges to trying to scale a business while having a full-time job. He said time was his obstacle, as you have to grow the business in what would normally be your spare time, so you have to schedule time to do this. It may take away from sleep, or leisure time, or family time, but he prioritized the sacrifice. He found that because he was drawing a regular salary, it freed up the investment income to hire help to manage everything. We discussed the details of how Will scaled up responsibly.   Because we met through the 7 Figure Flipping Mastermind group, I wanted Will to talk about how he thought this has affected his business. Very much like me, he said he was very skeptical initially, having never paid for training of any kind. He said he cannot believe how valuable it is to have the ability to call or text, at any time, other investors in order to shorten the learning curve and avoid mistakes.    We talked about marketing, the specifics of making offers, how Will’s team divides up responsibilities, the impact of the pandemic on his business,  and so much more! Join me and Will as we discuss the in and outs of real estate investing in the latest episode of Just Start Real Estate! Notable Quotes:   “I like to call myself a genius because I sold my real estate investments in 2007, but there was definitely some luck involved.”   William Morgan     “Some people make their own luck by being on top of things and having their ear to the ground.”   Mike Simmons     “Systems and processes were a way to communicate with my team without being there.”   William Morgan     “You have to make room in your life to scale a business.”   William Morgan     “The idea is to learn from your mistakes and improve.”   William Morgan     “Team members have to be a core-value fit.”   William Morgan     “If you want to do something well, you have to have rules to guide you.”   William Morgan     “You have to recognize value.”   William Morgan     “We want to be the source for distressed properties in our area.”   William Morgan     “To have access to other people who are running successful businesses at the level you want to be is invaluable.”   William Morgan about the 7 Figure Flipping Mastermind     “It is like buying speed and hindsight.”   Mike Simmons about the 7 Figure Flipping Mastermind     Links: Flip Hacking Live 7 Figure Flipping Penny Lane Equity Will’s Email Return on Investments Just Start Real Estate JSRE on Facebook Mike on Facebook Mike on Instagram Mike on LinkedIn Mike on Twitter Level Jumping: How I Grew My Business to Over $1 Million in Profits in 12 Months

Creating a 7 Figure Business While Working a Full-Time Job

In this episode, I am pleased to welcome Sean Morrissey to the show. Sean began as a buy and hold real estate investor in 2003 with a two-bedroom condo in Hanover Park, IL. Having earned his Illinois real estate broker license in 2007, Sean survived the market crash and assisted homeowners throughout the Chicagoland area and opened Chicagoland Realty Group Partners LLC in 2011. Since that time, Sean has managed over 700+ rental transactions, 200+ homes, and owns and manages his own rental property portfolio in the western suburbs of the Chicagoland area. Sean focuses the majority of his time in growing and managing his real estate portfolio while hosting a podcast named Landlording for Life.   I am always so interested in how and why people get into real estate investing, so Sean started by sharing his background with us. He said he graduated from Purdue University with a BA in Restaurant Management and joined the Peace Corps where he worked in Western Kenya. When he returned home and began working in restaurant management, his dad introduced him to a book about using real estate investments as tax shelters. Sean started joining REIAs to talk to investors and landlords, and bought his first investment property in June of 2003 in the Chicagoland area.   I asked Sean to explain his experience with the Peace Corps and what led him to choose that before starting his corporate work life. He said he was involved in a student exchange program in college which got him interested in international travel and helping others. He was stationed in western Kenya at a technical college helping students work with computers and doing many community outreach projects. Sean said it was an awesome experience and he would love to go back someday soon.   I wanted Sean to explain what led him to get his broker’s license and what he considers the advantages are to do so for a real estate investor. His thought process was that he would have access to the MLS and more deals, and be a better investor. Sean said it made a lot of sense to pursue his license at that time because there was no Zillow or Redfin, which has made a lot of the property information public now. Until 2009, he was still working full-time in the restaurant business, so working more as a realtor initially helped him to figure out how he was going to transition to real estate investing full-time.   As Sean has had his own property management company in the past, we talked quite a bit about common mistakes made by investors when managing their own properties, size of portfolios, and why he sold his company. Sean’s opinion is that a newer investor should manage their own properties until they get over ten doors in their portfolio so that they understand the rigors of the job and learn from any mistakes made. He also talked a lot about what their criteria was for screening tenants, which is very helpful for those landlords who self-manage.    I asked Sean to explain why he has shifted toward an investor-centered model, rather than focusing on his brokerage work or continuing in the property management field. He went into great detail about the several ways you can benefit financially from buy and hold investing versus other types, and also the time and work investment of each.    Sean shares some of his struggles as a landlord, specifics about his business dealings, property management tactics, and so much more! You will not want to miss this fantastic, value-filled episode of the Just Start Real Estate Podcast! Notable Quotes:   “Ultimately, it is through the experiences where you get burned that you learn the most.”   Sean Morrissey     “I’m more of a lifestyle-focused guy these days.”   Sean Morrissey     “If you are not re-creating your business systems every five years, you are going to fall behind.”   Sean Morrissey     “The use of virtual assistants is very scalable.”   Sean Morrissey     “At the end of the day, you get what you pay for.”   Sean Morrissey     “Investors with small portfolios need to put aside money for capital expenditures.”   Sean Morrissey     “Keep up with your repairs.”   Sean Morrissey     “All I heard is that I am right.”   Mike Simmons     “If you can see the bigger picture of how you are building passive income, you can build generational wealth through buy and hold investing.”   Sean Morrissey   Links: Flip Hacking Live Landlording for Life Podcast Return on Investments Just Start Real Estate JSRE on Facebook Mike on Facebook Mike on Instagram Mike on LinkedIn Mike on Twitter Level Jumping: How I Grew My Business to Over $1 Million in Profits in 12 Months

"Landlord for Life" Sean Morrissey, on Growing His Cashflow through Buy-and-Hold Real Estate

This is going to be kind of a different episode today as I present my recent interview with my friend, Danny Johnson, on his show, the Flipping Junkie Podcast. Danny wanted to have me on specifically to talk about Flip Hacking Live and what attendees of this event could expect. In the interview, I share my own experiences with being involved with this event and the benefits of making the investment to attend, namely, how to move the needle in your real estate investing business.   Danny started off by asking me to share my background and how I got into the real estate investing business. I stressed how vital it was for my business and personal growth to join the 7 Figure Flipping Mastermind group. The same year I joined, they decided to start holding an annual event, utilizing some of their most successful members as speakers in order to help real estate investors grow their businesses. I really want people to understand that these investors have nothing to sell and are giving the participants the “meat and potatoes” of their strategies without having to pay for anything beyond the cost of admission.   The speakers at Flip Hacking live cover subjects such as how to talk to sellers, how to find deals, different types of creative financing, marketing ideas that really help people set themselves apart, running a business remotely, and so much more. All of the concepts presented can be applied to a person’s individual situation and business no matter what scale they are at or what their goals are.   I have talked to dozens of investors and most everyone feels that we are headed into some kind of a dip in the housing market, most likely moving into more of a buyer’s market. My presentation at this years Flip Hacking Live is titled, “What I Wish Someone Would Have Told Me During the Last Downturn,” and I am going to speak about all of the things I wish I would have known when I started in this business during the last difficult housing market.   Flip Hacking Live is not an ordinary three-day webinar. There are going to be breakout sessions, one-on-one coaching, networking sessions, so it is going to be very interactive. The majority of the speakers are pure real estate investors, but we will also have some big-name, keynote speakers that are incredibly motivational and inspire us to be better people.   This is the first time that we have held Flip Hacking Live as a virtual event and I wanted to talk about all benefits of doing it this way. First of all, you aren’t going to be worrying about being in a big group, shaking hands, and being less than social distanced from other participants. You don’t need to pay for plane tickets, a hotel room for several days, or restaurant meals, so there is a significant cost saving there. You can sit in your office or at home and completely immerse yourself in the experience. I promise you we will not expect you to sit and listen to speaker after speaker as there will be different sessions and it will be super interactive. Again, this is not a standard webinar. The speakers are all flying to a location and will be on stage during their presentations so it is going to be as Flip Hacking Live-like as possible!    In the spirit of my talk this year, if I could go back and tell my younger self one thing, it would be “Make the investment and go to Flip Hacking Live!” I hope everyone listening will join us this year on October 15th, 16th, and 17th! We are offering access to all of the past event talks when you get your ticket by visiting FlipHackingLive.com, promo code, Danny! Notable Quotes:   “It was just horsepower getting me through deals.”   Mike Simmons     “I was really stumped on how to scale beyond where I was so I finally broke down and joined a mastermind group.”   Mike Simmons     “When you surround yourself with people who have moved beyond your thinking and have done bigger and better things, it opens your mind to what you didn’t know and what you could be doing in your business to get better.”   Mike Simmons     “Wherever you are, you can get better.”   Mike Simmons     “Why don’t we take some of our most successful members, put them on stage, and have them lay out, from end to end, specifically what they are doing in their business that is working for them?”   Mike Simmons     “The speakers are just there to give you the playbook for what they do best.”   Mike Simmons     “When you are around people that have a giving spirit, like people in the 7 Figure Flipping  organization, it is amazing what you can take away from an event like this.”   Mike Simmons     “Because the mastermind did so much for me, I felt like I wanted to be involved in Flip Hacking Live because I want to help people.”   Mike Simmons     “I’ve seen the transformation enough to know it is real.”   Mike Simmons     “It is not possible to go to Flip Hacking Live and not learn something.”   Mike Simmons   Links: Flip Hacking Live  Flipping Junkie Podcast Return on Investments Just Start Real Estate JSRE on Facebook Mike on Facebook Mike on Instagram Mike on LinkedIn Mike on Twitter Level Jumping: How I Grew My Business to Over $1 Million in Profits in 12 Months 

What to Expect from FHL 2020 - My Interview on the Flipping Junkie Podcast

In this episode, I have the opportunity to interview fellow 7 Figure Flipping member, Sheri Duignan. Sheri has been involved in real estate investing since 2004, beginning with the rental of her own home when she was called to move across the company for her job. Over the next few years, having experienced both the highs and lows of real estate, she decided to self-educate through reading and attending seminars and then launched her own business. In order to do this, she resigned her District Vice President position after 18 years with this company but is now happily wholesaling and flipping houses full-time.   After the almost accidental start in real estate by renting her own home in Atlanta, Sheri talks about the transition from her corporate job into real estate investing. She purchased her next two rentals in North Carolina because she went to school and also had family in the area. She talked about looking for investor-friendly agents to find these properties and how once she found one, he ended up managing her properties for him and built a business out of it.   Because Sheri started out as a buy-and-hold investor, I asked her what made her transition into other aspects of investing. When her Atlanta home came vacant after the same tenants for 10 years, she and her husband camped out in the house while they nearly completely rehabbed it to rent again. Sheri really enjoyed the process and ended up taking some classes that convinced her she should be flipping and wholesaling houses in addition to her rental properties.   I asked Sheri to share some of the difficulties she has had in her time investing. She talked about how when she first started investing full-time after leaving her corporate job, she was very frustrated and wondered if she had made a big mistake because she was doing so much work and spending a ton on advertising with very little return. Just when she was ready to give up, she ended up closing on two deals, which completely changed her mindset and restored her confidence.   Because she shared these struggles with us, I asked Sheri what is working best for her now with lead generation. She said she is still successful with direct mail, but she is finding networking to be very effective. Sheri joined Business Networking International which is a referral company that incentivizes its members to refer to one another in the group. She explained the current deal she is working on that she obtained through this network, and went into detail describing the numbers and the creative financing she was able to utilize. Sheri also explained that her goal was to finance more rentals with the profits she is making from flipping houses to increase her passive income.   Here is just another example of an incredibly generous business person who is willing to lay it all out honestly in an effort to help other investors, so don’t miss this fantastic episode with Sheri Duignan! Notable Quotes:   “Real estate is really my passion and what makes me excited. There are so many facets to it.”   Sheri Duignan     “I was tired of corporate politics and wanted to work for myself.”   Sheri Duignan     “You just have to be patient and have some grit.”   Sheri Duignan     “Thank God for my husband… he was such a great cheerleader and kept telling me to ‘Go, Go, Go!’”   Sheri Duignan     “You can’t let one property define you.”   Sheri Duignan     “Where I am really finding more success with lead generation is through networking.”   Sheri Duignan     “Relationships and networking take more time and energy, but in the long run, the return on the investment is astronomical.”   Mike Simmons     “If you are an entrepreneur, it can’t be ‘I can’t’... it has to be ‘How can I?’”   Mike Simmons     “You can go one of two ways when life gets tough - you can quit or you can buckle down and work harder.”   Mike Simmons     “Don’t be bashful about what you are doing. Talk about it.”   Mike Simmons     “My advice to new investors - Just get started.”   Sheri Duignan     “Joining 7 Figure Flipping is probably the best thing I have done, out of everything I have done.”   Sheri Duignan     “I resisted masterminds and coaching for years because I was being pig headed and thought I could just figure it out.”   Mike Simmons     “I love your ‘I will figure this out and win’ attitude!”   Mike Simmons   Links: Flip Hacking Live Business Network International  Real Results Realty LLC Sheri’s Email Return on Investments Just Start Real Estate JSRE on Facebook Mike on Facebook Mike on Instagram Mike on LinkedIn Mike on Twitter Level Jumping: How I Grew My Business to Over $1 Million in Profits in 12 Months 

Creative Real Estate Deals and the Power of Networking

Ok guys, thank you for joining me, thank you for being here on Just Start Real Estate! I’m excited to have you and I’m excited to be with you for another Thursday show. This is the Thursday show that didn’t exist a month ago as we just started doing two shows per week and I am psyched about it! I am trying to turn about the volume on the value that I am offering you on these shows and the Thursday show is something I am really happy about. I am happy to be bringing you more content that I think is going to move the needle for your business. Today, we are continuing our Flip Hacking Live Rewind series and I am just plucking the best of the best, the presentations I really think you missed out on by not seeing them live and giving them to you here. Today we have a presentation from 2018 given by my mentor, Andy McFarland, who I really look up to in this industry, as a person, a businessman, a father, and a husband. If you have had any exposure to Andy or seen him present, you know what I am talking about - he is absolutely the best and smartest of guys. Today, I am bringing you his presentation on Seller Financing. Guys, seller financing is going to be humongous in the next year or two. It’s big now, it has always been big, but I think it is going to be especially impactful and useful in your real estate tool belt for you so that you are able to do these types of deals. There is nobody better, no one that has been doing it longer at such a high level than Andy and he is the perfect guy to lay this out for you so that you can start doing seller financing deals.   Pay attention to this one - Andy really brings it in this presentation and I know it is going to blow your mind! Seller financing, as Andy explains it, is easy to follow and easy to implement and you should be doing this in your business!  Notable Quotes:   “Gotta learn to look at all the angles.”   MacGyver     “You can’t effectively sell what you don’t believe.”   “No one cares how much you know until they know how much you care.”   “There is no microwave trust.”   “You show that you care by active listening.”   “Listening is not waiting to talk.”   “Start and end your day with this: Have I done any good in the world today?” Links: Flip Hacking Live 7 Figure Flipping Andy’s Website ABC Offer Return on Investments Just Start Real Estate JSRE on Facebook Mike on Facebook Mike on Instagram Mike on LinkedIn Mike on Twitter Level Jumping: How I Grew My Business to Over $1 Million in Profits in 12 Months 

FHL 2018 - Andy McFarland - Selling Seller Financing

In this episode, I have the opportunity to interview Roofstock CEO, Gary Beasley. Roofstock is a leading real estate investment marketplace that he co-founded in 2015. Gary caught the entrepreneurial bug while earning an MBA at Stanford, and spent most of his career building businesses in the real estate, hospitality, and tech sectors.   We began as we often do by diving into Gary’s background. He talked about growing up in small midwestern towns learning a bit about the business from his dad who owned a commercial real estate brokerage firm. Gary said things really changed for him when he went to school at Northwestern and how the environment really opened his eyes to the different possibilities available to him. He decided to go to business school after working a couple of years in real estate, thinking that he wanted to do something different, but ending up right back in real estate after earning his MBA from Stanford.   Gary talked about his early work experience and the different roles that he played. He talked about how much he learned and how his confidence grew when he was able to perform duties that he had not done previously. After several years of working as both a CFO and president for ZipRealty, he decided to take a year off to work on various projects. He took some time to teach some entrepreneur courses at Stanford and ended up making a proposal to a solar panel technology company that led to another leadership role.   Gary took some time to explain the circumstances that led him to starting Roofstock and the advantages to their platform. Some of these include fast sales, costs associated with selling homes are lower than through traditional means, there is no down time for the investment, and very little disruption to the tenant. As part of this discussion, I talked a lot about why using Roofstock is desirable for an investor in my situation. Gary outlined several of the benefits and guarantees that are integral to the Roofstock marketplace.   We then discussed where Gary thinks the housing market is headed. He said that it is so hard to predict the future because there are so many variables, but it is very interesting that the housing market is still so hot after several months of the pandemic. He stressed that because of the pandemic, people are valuing their homestead more than ever and that is having an interesting impact on the market.   Gary has an incredibly interesting background and was a great guest, so please join us for this uber-informative episode of the Just Start Real Estate Podcast!   Notable Quotes:   “One of the best things about college is how it expands your horizons and your viewpoint of what is possible.”   Mike Simmons     “I encourage people to view college as a time of exploration and not necessarily as a practical, pre-professional period.”   Gary Beasley     “College really teaches you how to think.”   Gary Beasley     “Early in your career, do things for the experience, not for the money.”   Gary Beasley     “The more difficult the decision, the less it matters what you decide.”   Gary Beasley     “You lean on experts that can help you.”   Gary Beasley     “Make sure you are surrounded by the right people.”   Gary Beasley     “Embrace the process and everything will be okay.”   Gary Beasley     “If you stay where you are comfortable, I hope you are comfortable where you currently are because that is where you will remain.”   Mike Simmons     “We are trying to break down the geographic barriers to real estate investing.”   Gary Beasley     “When you are building a marketplace, it has to be on a foundation of trust.”   Gary Beasley     “It has to be trust first, then growth, and then profitability.”   Gary Beasley   Links: Flip Hacking Live Roofstock Return on Investments Just Start Real Estate JSRE on Facebook Mike on Facebook Mike on Instagram Mike on LinkedIn Mike on Twitter Level Jumping: How I Grew My Business to Over $1 Million in Profits in 12 Months

Why Single Family Rentals Are a Great Investment with the Founder of Roofstock - Gary Beasley

I have for you today an awesome, handpicked presentation. These are like the best of the best presentations that we had at past Flip Hacking Live and I just want to show you what you are missing out on if you are not going. If you are going, it is something to look forward to because I have a presentation today that my friend, Adam Rae, did a couple of years ago and it is all about wealth accumulation, wealth building, and creating a life inside of real estate that gives you the opportunity to live the life that you really want with freedom of time, financial freedom, and how to go about doing that. He gets into a little bit of tax stuff and things like that so it is really good, solid information that you can actually utilize right away.   This is why I am bringing you these presentations as part of our Flip Hacking Live Rewind Series. Most of these have not been released to the public or given away for free - usually, you have to pay to get the presentation recordings. I am giving them to you free because I really want you to understand what goes on at this event! If you haven’t gotten your tickets, you can grab them at the link below! Go grab your tickets, but in the meantime, check out this presentation from 2018 which is absolutely applicable today. As a matter of fact, it might be even more applicable now than it was then! Check it out, get ready to take notes… this one is awesome! Notable Quotes:   “Why are we all here? Why does it matter?”   “All models are wrong; some are useful.”   George E. P. Box     “You actually have to do the work to apply some of the principles and work it out with your values, your life, your business.”   “I think you need to back up and define what wealth is for you.”   “What you are seeing online is a very curated view of what someone else considers what wealth is.”   “It’s not about the money for me, it’s about the time.”   “Passive income is mailbox money - it is going to pay you regardless if you show up or not.”   “Don’t mistake assets for passive income.”   “The purpose of wealth-building is to buy back time.”   “How incredible is the wealth in this room when we not only get to bring money in but it is about sending it out to work for the people that we love.”   “I have been in other groups, but I don’t know another group that has the character, the values, the camaraderie, and the transparency.”   “It’s about growing as people on a long journey to wealth so that we can all achieve and be the people we were made to be.”   “The real estate professional piece [of the tax code] is where it gets really sexy.”     Links: Flip Hacking Live 7 Figure Flipping Adam’s Website KBKG ABC Offer Return on Investments Just Start Real Estate JSRE on Facebook Mike on Facebook Mike on Instagram Mike on LinkedIn Mike on Twitter Level Jumping: How I Grew My Business to Over $1 Million in Profits in 12 Months

FHL 2018 - Adam Rae - Replacing & Capturing Your Income Through Rentals

In this episode, I have the opportunity to interview Avery Carl, who bought her first rental property at age 26 on a $37,000 salary. Through strategically investing in short-term rental properties in mature vacation rental markets, she was a millionaire by the age of 31. She now owns a portfolio of 28 properties and is the CEO and founder of The Short Term Shop, a real estate team that helps investors acquire short-term rental properties in the most recession-resistant markets, and trains them on the same methods that led her out of the corporate rat race and into financial freedom.    Avery begins by telling us about her background in which she worked as a marketing manager in the music industry. Completely uneducated in real estate investing, she and her husband decided to purchase a home for a long-term rental in the hopes of selling it to pay for college for their future kids. Quickly, they realized that they should do more investing and came across the idea of short-term rentals. They have now grown their portfolio into 28 properties, split between short and long-term rentals. Avery’s business, The Short Term Shop, grew from the necessity of having to become an expert in this type of investing as so few people are and she found very little support.   Avery talks about how her focus has been regional, driveable, vacation-rental markets because they are more recession-proof. Very applicable currently, as we are still dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, these types of rentals are very attractive when people are unable to or cannot afford to get on a plane, but still want to get away from home. She said that an easy way to think of areas that might be attractive to have short-term rentals are places you may have visited as a child when you rented a house rather than stayed in a hotel. Avery also said that metro markets can be undesirable because of regulations imposed stemming from the competition of nearby hotel markets.   I asked Avery to talk about what I perceived is the downside of short-term rentals, primarily having to deal with people and answer questions very frequently. She said that many different software platforms have risen out of this fairly new type of investing called channel managers that automate a lot of this process. Avery also said that providing as much information as possible in your Airbnb or VRBO listing to try to answer as many questions ahead of time as possible. She also explained all of the technology they have in place for monitoring their rentals.   I wanted Avery to explain the finances involved for the different markets that she is in. She went through the numbers she has seen in her experience and some of the possible expenses, such as property management, which she does herself. Avery said that more bedrooms make for a higher return on investment, so we talked about this and other details a bit.    I wanted Avery to talk about some of the mistakes she had experienced herself or seen with her clients that new investors should be aware of. Evaluating properties to buy is different in that you want to look at asking price versus what you can make in rentals, instead of what you would make when you sell it. As far as management, she said you have to be aware that because the renters are on vacation, they may not be on their best behavior, but that doesn’t mean they are trashing your place and you have to be careful about calling them out on it. Avery also talked about some of the software tools available to short-term rental investors for management.   I then asked Avery to explain  to our listeners the service that The Short Term Shop provides. She said that she is a realtor and has teams in three different markets in Tennessee, Florida, and Alabama. They help investors make sure that the properties they are evaluating would make profitable short-term rentals and walk them through the whole process to run a vacation rental.   Even though Avery owns and runs a business to help people get started in this kind of investing, she was completely transparent and gave us all the tips and tools she uses for her own properties! Don’t miss this fast-paced interview, chock-full of great information with Avery Carl!  Notable Quotes:   “Short-term rentals provide turbo-charged income.”   Avery Carl     “You definitely want to treat your cleaners like gold because they are your eyes and ears.”   Avery Carl     “Don’t micromanage.”   Avery Carl     “The more people you can sleep, the more money you can make, and the higher the cash-on-cash return.”   Avery Carl     “It’s better than sitting in an office every day.”   Avery Carl   “Normal real estate investors are looking for super deals all of the time.”   Mike Simmons   Links: Flip Hacking Live The Short Term Shop AirDNA Mashvisor KeyData YourPorter IGMS TurnoverBnB Beyond Pricing PriceLabs Wheelhouse Airbnb VRBO Return on Investments Just Start Real Estate JSRE on Facebook Mike on Facebook Mike on Instagram Mike on LinkedIn Mike on Twitter Level Jumping: How I Grew My Business to Over $1 Million in Profits in 12 Months

Big Profits with Short Term Rentals with Avery Carl

Today, I have another great presentation from a past Flip Hacking Live in our Thursday Flip Hacking Live Rewind series where I share a little glimpse of what you can expect to experience at this event. If you already went ahead and got your ticket, you are going to love it and I am just going to prove it to you by showing you past events; people who spoke, people who will be speaking again this year so you can see the value before you even show up. If you haven’t gotten your tickets, go grab them! Today, I have Tyler Jensen’s presentation from last year and it is powerful and awesome! If you don’t know who Tyler is, he is a friend of mine who is making a name for himself right now because he is doing 7 Day Flips. That’s right - he is doing full renovation flips in 7 days or less! We are talking about $40,000 renovations, not just minor stuff. It is amazing, especially for those of us who take weeks or months or even a year to do renovations, Tyler is doing it in 7 days. Listen, even if you think that 7 days is just not realistic for you, what if you could just cut your renovation time in half? Imagine how much more productive you would be, imagine how much money you could save on holding costs and all that stuff.   This is a presentation you should really be excited about! Tyler is going to be at Flip Hacking Live again this year, but you will want to listen to this and be ready to take notes because he gives great tips and opens up the playbook on how to flip a house in 7 days. Notable Quotes:   “You get to choose whether today is the best day ever.”   “I’m here to build castles, not fight dragons.”   “Small questions yield small answers.”   “Money is made in efficiency.”   “Work expands to fill the time available for its completion.”   Parkinson’s Law     “Our biggest takeaway is planning and people. We had to have both.”   “The battle is no time to sharpen your sword.”   “You can’t soar like an eagle if you hang out with turkeys.”   “I was born for this.” Links: Flip Hacking Live 7 Figure Flipping Tyler’s Website ABC Offer Return on Investments Just Start Real Estate JSRE on Facebook Mike on Facebook Mike on Instagram Mike on LinkedIn Mike on Twitter Level Jumping: How I Grew My Business to Over $1 Million in Profits in 12 Months

FHL 2019 - Tyler Jensen - 7 Day Flip

In this episode, I have the honor of interviewing my good friend Danny Johnson, who does a great job of introducing himself as we start things off a little bit differently for this show. Danny started flipping houses in 2003, made it successfully through the housing market crash in 2008, and started scaling his business up about 5 years ago. As a software developer prior to flipping houses, Danny started developing real estate investor websites by creating the software called LeadPropeller. Recently, he has developed and released FlipPilot 2.0, which is lead/deal management pipeline software. Danny is also the host of the ever-popular Flipping Junkie Podcast and Flipping Junkie Blog.   Danny shared some details of his personal life and how circumstances really forced him into looking hard at his life and work. He had removed himself from the day-to-day operations of his house flipping business, but he found that this was something he really wanted to change. As he is re-investing himself in real estate investing, he wants to keep things simple and look at his long-term plans for the business’ growth.   I asked Danny to talk about the development of FlipPilot and what drove him to produce that software. Because his background is in software development, it was natural for him to want to create vehicles to help with his investing business. He talked about the whole progression of building the software and the lessons he learned along the way.   Danny talked about how he started the Flipping Junkie Blog as a means to hold himself accountable and to be transparent about the deals he was finding and all of the associated numbers. He ended up writing a book titled Flipping Houses Exposed to share all of the information he learned during this experience. But he wasn’t happy with the conversion ratio, which is what led him to the development of FlipPilot. We wanted to dig into the whys behind the lack of success in converting deals and solve it for himself going forward as he became more involved in real estate again.   We talked a lot about how FlipPilot incorporates your systems and processes and how valuable this is for being effective in your business. We discussed integrating personal touches such as follow-up notes and how they sound like a great idea, but they need to be part of your process or you won’t take the time to do them. Danny stressed how important it is to be able to visualize each system, putting it in a place where you will see it so that you actually work it. This also makes it much easier to scale and have your whole team working on the same page. It also makes getting things done fun and rewarding.   Because of this unique situation of talking to an experienced investor who is, in a sense, starting over, I asked Danny to describe how this journey is going. Even though he doesn’t plan on employing a large group of people, he is treating it as a scalable company. He is looking at being more effective and efficient, making his time and effort really count, rather than spending a ton of time and money for little gain. His marketing strategy has also changed because he is more focused on long-term investments in specific markets. Danny also discusses being more profit-oriented, rather than focusing on a random number-of-deals goal.   This interview feels like two guys, sitting around a fire-pit, having a beer, talking real estate and life… you don’t want to miss this episode with Danny Johnson! Notable Quotes:   “That rush of excitement you felt is really an indication, a confirmation of what you want.”   Mike Simmons     “I always wanted to create software to help out with the house flipping business.”   Danny Johnson     “I don’t want to go in thinking I know everything… I want to learn fresh.”   Danny Johnson     “One of the hardest things to do well, in this industry, is follow-up.”   Mike Simmons     “Treating people like people is a huge part of this.”   Danny Johnson     “Who doesn’t want to be seen and heard?”   Danny Johnson     “Referrals is another thing that people in our business overlook.”   Mike Simmons     “You got to make it such a “WOW” experience so that they can’t help but to tell their friends about it.”   Danny Johnson     “What is not measured cannot be managed.”   Danny Johnson     “Enjoy this business - every day of it.”   Danny Johnson     “How much money do you need to live a comfortable life?”   Danny Johnson   Links: Flip Hacking Live Lead Propeller FlipPilot FlipPilot Demo Flipping Houses Exposed Flipping Junkie Blog Flipping Junkie Podcast Work the System Traction Return on Investments Just Start Real Estate JSRE on Facebook Mike on Facebook Mike on Instagram Mike on LinkedIn Mike on Twitter Level Jumping: How I Grew My Business to Over $1 Million in Profits in 12 Months 

Starting Over as an Experienced Investor and the Launch of a Great New Lead Management Software with Danny Johnson

New shows 5 Days a week! Mondays are an interview with a successful real estate investor. I get to the bottom of their business to discover the secret to how they became successful. Tuesday through Friday is filled with small actionable advice and tips that you can use in your business to immediately help you further your success in real estate.

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Just Start Real Estate with Mike Simmons

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