Focus! It's hard to get anything significant done without it. And it has been one of my biggest challenges in Business and Real Estate - and still is!

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Intro...

Welcome to Episode #32 - Focus & Make 2020 Your Best Year Yet!

Focus... Such a simply concept - give your full attention and effort to a single thing, task, or undertaking (to the exclusion of pretty much everything else) - until you've completed it. But, so much easier said than done - if you're anything like me.

Distractions are everywhere. And I'm not just speaking of the numerous phone calls I get each hour of the day, constant text messages, endless emails, Facebook, Messenger, various Forum alerts... on and on. These are problematic, but easily controllable to an extent.

To avoid distractions, I now check Facebook and Messenger, once per week (if that). I only check text messages once or twice per day or when idle - so I tell people who are seeking something of me urgently to call instead of text. If you need to hear from me NOW, then call; but if it can wait a few hours (maybe even a full day or two), then text. And I check emails every few hours or so, or more frequently if I have something going on where an important email or text is expected - like a closing.

I try to keep these distractions to a minimum so that I can protect my time for focused activities. Phone calls are the most frequent distraction, as I made the mistake of registering a Domain Name once with my cell phone number on file, and now I get almost hourly spam calls from India offering a Website for my new Domain Name. Which is ironic being that I have a Website business. So now I always use a different number when registering Domains, or enable Whois Privacy to keep my number hidden.

I also get a ton of calls from companies offering business funding and Real Estate loans, which comes from when I was starting out with Real Estate Investing and reached out to different lenders trying to get those early projects funded. They must have put me on some list that has now been sold to every so-called business or Real Estate lender out there, so be careful of that... Protect your cell phone number!

Being the biggest distraction, I got into the habit of only answer calls directly when I recognized the name on Caller ID or the number is already present in my address book (so I know who it is) - and I actually want to speak with that person at that time. But now that I'm performing as a Realtor, that becomes more difficult - because a Realtor who actually answer's their phone is already ahead of most. So I've now started to use a service to detect and block spam calls - allowing me to answer the others directly, resulting in fewer needless distractions.

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But like I said, those kinds of distractions from focus are not the real problem, because I can pretty easily control them. Where my problem really comes in, are not those types of distractions from my focus of time utilization. My problem is focus of action.

I'm rarely all-in on any one thing, because I'm always doing multiple things. Right now I'm recording this Podcast episode! I certainly think it's a worth-while use of my time - I hope you do as well... And thankfully it only requires about 3 or 4 hours of my time each week. But those are also hours I could be putting towards finding more properties to buy. It's time I could be devoting to marketing and growing ViUX, my Website & Web Hosting Business. Its time I could be marketing and growing my Property Management Business or enhancing my profile as a Realtor.

Lots of other things I could be doing with my time, so when I decided to start a Podcast, I really had to consider the impact it would have on my focus towards all the other things I've got going on - time with my family being top on that list. And not focusing on your business can be problematic. I've got ViUX as one business. But I didn't focus solely on it, instead - I started Blue Chariot!

And then I couldn't even focus on one thing for that business either, as Blue Chariot became Blue Chariot Properties and Blue Chariot Homes and then I went and got my Real Estate License / became a Realtor and started Blue Chariot Realty and Blue Chariot Management and then the [... and Landlord!] Podcast and other coming things from Blue Chariot Media - and who knows what else I'll start next.

Again, lots of things going on - making it impossible to focus on any one, as they all require some amount of daily or weekly attention. This is my real challenge, because as an Entrepreneur - I get great business ideas and opportunities coming my way seemingly every month (if not weekly), and no matter how good, I can't peruse all of them. To even try would be to harm all else I've got going on. And that would be unfair to my existing businesses and the other people involved with each. It would also be unfair to myself and my family - to split my focus across so many things, that I end up doing none of them well. And if nothing else, I MUST do family well. What else matters?

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Here's an example of my focus dilemma...

So in November of 2018 I got my 15th rental unit, and now here a year later near the end of October 2019, I'm about to close on number 16. Other than an unfinished Lake House I bought in September (I'll tell you more about that later); and a new build started earlier this Summer (that is now almost complete), these have been my only Real Estate transactions in 2019 for myself - other than being a Realtor for others.

My goal for 2019 was to end the year with at least 32 units (double what I should have ended 2018 with). Now hey, I've got 2 more months remaining in the year, and I'm attending 2 events in the coming months that may help to get me past my current stall - potentially partnering with individuals who are already doing this business at a high level. But it was my shift in focus for 2019 that I feel is largely to blame for this far slower year when compared to the prior years since I started this business in 2015.

Prior to 2019, I was happy to pick-up new properties one at a time. But since my goal has been to double my number of units each year, and I missed that goal for the first time at the end of 2018 - falling short by just 1 unit. I knew that I'd need to change in 2019 to regain and keep up that pace.

So I shifted my focus (away from what had been working) - to try to acquire some larger multi-family properties. All it would have taken was one 20 unit building (or a couple of 10 units) and I'd be right back on track! My first attempt was an auction of a 38 unit in Thomasville, North Carolina, near Highpoint. I could bid $1M and could have made it work as high as $1.2M - but it went for something like $1.6M.

And it's not like $1.6M was a bad price, as that's just over $42,000 per unit, and this was a good mix of 1, 2, and 3 BR units. Plus, there was a vacant lot included where additional units could be built. So I know whoever won this bid got a killer deal at that price, but I just couldn't go that high at the time.

And since then I've repeated this action several times, getting outbid at auctions, direct offers rejected and owners of off-market properties just unwilling to sell for a workable price - on everything from Duplexes, Triplexes, and Quads, all the way up to 100 unit properties. As a result, my 2019 has been lots of failure and rejection when it comes to my attempt to step-up to doing larger deals. But hey - thankfully I take failures as a lessen learned and rejection as practice.

Now partly, this is because I've not ventured far out of my backyard - really wanting this first larger scale deal to be within a few hours drive. That's just a mental barrier on my part that I have to overcome to make this work. And it's also because the current economy (in general) doesn't make for as many deals to be had on cheap(er) properties - and this is especially true in my area of Raleigh / Durham, North Carolina. Things just aren't cheap here right now and competition is stiff, from other multi-family investors, both those who are local and those coming in from other markets - most of whom have more experience at larger deals (and more funding) than me. So there experience and funding (or maybe foolishness) allows them to pay more than I'm willing or able to pay per unit on this first one... And the first one is always the hardest.

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So the question I awake to each morning is - where is my focus best directed to make 2020 a more successful year for me than 2019? I just feel that my future lies in the larger multi-family deals. I'm trying to acquire hundreds of millions in Real Estate, and I'm not sure I'll be able to do that one door at a time.

But at the same time, with my focus on the larger deals, I've spent all of 2019 at the same unit count I started the year. So just to see if I was missing out, I decided to re-start some of my daily activities that had previously resulted in my getting single family houses and duplexes under contract in the prior years. And a couple weeks after doing so, surprise, surprise - I got #16 under contract at a good price for the rehab it will require and what it will ultimately rent for.

This purchase of #16 will be funded by one of my Private Lenders (who has been asking me for months when I'd have something else needing funding) - because he wants his money at work. I almost need to go back to checking for the smaller deals just to keep my Private Lenders engaged (especially those with lessor funds to lend), while I continue to try to go after and take down a larger deal.

So then it all comes back to focus... Can you do multiple things, and do all of them well? The answer, as I've determined is NO - Unless. Can I go after larger deals, while still taking on the smaller deals? Can I self-manage my own existing rentals while taking on the management of rentals for other Landlords as well? Can I do this Podcast, while also being a Realtor at a high level for Buyers and Sellers here in the Triangle area of North Carolina? Can I do new builds, wholesale deals and maybe even some high-end flips - while also growing my rental portfolio? And can I have a Website & Web Hosting Business and other Businesses at the same time, while also being there for my family, friends and enjoy life, free time, travel, and all? The answer, as I've determined is NO - Unless.

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NO - Unless I leverage other people, systems and processes so that everything is not my sole responsibility. NO - Unless, I make the best possible (highest and best use) of my time. This was a hard lessen learned. And I learned it coming into Blue Chariot from ViUX. As I mentioned on a prior episode, it took me over a decade to get ViUX to a place where it was not all consuming of my time. If you've not listened to that episode, ViUX is my Website & Web Hosting Business at: V-I-U-X.com - where I offer everything individuals and small businesses need to have high-level Website (similar services as GoDaddy).

I learned this about time management and getting results, by reading books, several of which are present on the Books page at: andlandlord.com/books - such as: [The 4-Hour Work Week]; [The One Thing]; [Extreme Ownership]; [The Millionaire Real Estate Investor]; [The Millionaire Real Estate Agent]; [The E-Myth: Revisited]; and [The E-Myth: Real Estate Investor]. These and other great books speak volumes on the concept of leveraging other people, system and processes - to become the most efficient and effective version of yourself and a leader who can create and inspire a winning team.

But my problem was that for a long time, I did everything myself and everything was my responsibility. And somehow, that really even continued past when I started hiring employees - as everything still ultimately fell into my lap. I guess I wasn't a very good leader? Or maybe I just wasn't willing to let go and truly let others do things on my behalf? Yea that's it... But eventually I learned how to get out form under tasks, so now everything I do is documented and then handed off to someone else to handle on my behalf from that moment forward.

Now I conduct recorded Skype calls with different staff members and VA's, so that they can watch my screen (and re-watch as needed) and hear me explain a task, so that I only need to do it once - and they can then handle it on my behalf from that moment forward. If there's not time for a call, then I create a quick Loom video and share the link. But I structure actions to record or otherwise document anything I find myself doing repeatedly that I don't want to have to continue doing, and think someone else could handle just as well. Even if they can only do it 80% as well as I can, it's still better handled by someone other than me, so that I can focus on those few things that only I can do for my businesses. Or those things I'm not yet comfortable handing off - as there are still some.

This process has freed my time, to make it possible for me to take on multiple endeavors and to do all of them pretty well. But even with that, it's always a work in progress, because as I just related, shifting my focus to larger deals has likely cost me many properties I could have otherwise picked up this year. I'd likely be much nearer (if not at or beyond) my goal of 32 units for this year, if I had focused on continuing to pick-up units 1 or 2 at a time. Or if I had done a better job at systematizing my acquisition process of single-family and smaller multi-family properties, while also going after the larger deals. And I'm 100% certain this would be true if I had expanded my reach outside of North Carolina - again, a self-imposed mental block on my part, wanting my properties (for some reason) to be within driving distance. Like I'm going to go hug them or something!?

Now with that said, you still cannot spread yourself too thin. One of the most important things an Entrepreneur can do is to say NO - to the litany of opportunities that are guaranteed to start coming your way, the more successful you become. For instance, in addition to all else I've got going on, I will soon be launching what I hope to become a chain of sports themed barbershops and a barbershop / salon supply company. But the key here is that I'm going into this with a partner, who will be doing most of the daily work related to these businesses. I'm just an investor and the overall tech and business guide - but not the day to day operations person. I won't be cutting anyone's hair. And if it required anywhere near that level of daily involvement on my part, I would have said a hard NO.

I also choose those opportunities to pursue that are highly related or naturally lend themselves to leveraging the same team / people, systems and processes that I already have in place. Things that are easily added without being disruptive to what is already working. For example, Blue Chariot Management is a logical service add, because I'm already managing my own Rental Properties, and nothing had to change to add in the properties of other Landlords to that same system to be handled by the same team. It was a largely a seamless addition, plus it gives me insight into potential deals to acquire more properties; as well as, makes use of my already in-place list of prior applicants and inquires seeking one of my properties at the next vacancy. Property Management is a perfect service add, if you've already got the people / team, systems, processes in-place for this for your own properties.

Blue Chariot Realty is another example, as I'm already a Realtor because I wanted the education and easy access to properties and the MLS. While it wasn't quite as smooth of a service add as Property Management, you must be a Licensed Real Estate Broker in North Carolina to be a Property Manager for others anyway. And local market knowledge becomes pretty en-grained when you're constantly searching for deals on rental properties for yourself in that market. You also become pretty good at negotiating and managing transactions to close, when you're doing the same for your rental property deals - even when you don't get them all. Just add in a few more people and systems and you've got the makings of a powerful Real Estate Agency able to do well for your clients in that market.

And of course this Podcast, Blue Chariot Media and any other educational material I release through these - are a part of my effort to give back. But its not entirely altruistic, as I've heard and now proved for myself that the best way to learn something is to teach it. That sounds backwards, but something about formalizing your thoughts and knowledge for presentation to others has a way of clarifying that information and locking it into your own mind. It quickly becomes second nature and then just makes you that much better. So I consider this time well spent, and I can't say enough about how much pleasure it gives me when I hear from those of you who have been listening as to the impact its had on your own actions to become financially free through the Business of Rental Real Estate Investing. So THANK YOU - And please continue to reach out, as I enjoy the conversations and I'm happy to aid where I can.

So while ViUX and all that Blue Chariot has become all works and fits nicely into my daily routine - I must still be careful not to let my focus slip into things that are not necessarily conducive to the success of that endeavor along with everything else.

For example, I'm interested in: Self-Storage; Assisted Living Facilities; Short-Term Rentals (which itself has multiple methods to pursue); Commercial / Offices & Retail; and I own hundreds of potential Website Domain Names, each of which can be used for a verity of awesome online businesses that I've got ideas for. But I have to resist the temptation to move on these without fully considering the likelihood of success and the impact on everything else I've got going on - plus family and life / work balance. You can't do everything. So at some point you have to pick something and focus in on it.

Now that's not to say that I won't do some or all of these things in 2020 or the following years... Like I'm certain to try Short-Term Rentals at some point. And when I open a local office for Blue Chariot Realty (I'm now using the eXp Realty office), it will almost certainly be a property that I own, hopefully with a spot for one of my barbershop locations, and then several other businesses of others who's rent covers the full mortgage. There's an SBA loan program that will fund up to 90% of the purchase price for a commercial office location, as long as your business occupies 50% of the space - so I'm certainly going to be on the lookout for a property that will work for that!

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But again, you can't do everything - so we must protect our time and focus attention and efforts only on those things that will yield the greatest results with the least amount of time and effort required to do so.

I've struggled with this for years, but I think I've finally got it under control - and I'm immensely excited to see what becomes of 2020 from that focus, people and systems I've now and will further have in place. I fully expect for 2020 to be the best year of my life. If you're not expecting the same for yourself, then let's speak on what we might be able to do with these remaining two months of 2019 to get you to that place in 2020 (or if you've got further to go, maybe 2021). Reach out to me (please), through the Website at: andlandord.com - using the email address in the footer or the [Get In Touch] form. I truly do feel that anyone can completely change their circumstances and entire life within 2 or 3 years (or certainly within 5 year, if you've got more significant challenges to overcome). But you've got to start that process now, and getting started is the hardest part - so let me know if I can be a guide or of any aid.

The second hardest part is maintaining your focus and putting people, systems and processes in place to reap the benefits of that focus. And I'm sorry to say - You may need to eliminate some people from your team (or life) if they are a drag on that focus or otherwise a negative influence. No one (other than maybe your minor children) are entitled to be a part of your life - so if they don't benefit your life, block them from it, or limit their access to the greatest degree possible. Anyone who is not a benefit to your life is by definition a detriment - block them / minimize their access or change their roll. There may also be other things in your life that need to be eliminated. Remember I had to cut out music, sports and TV in general, for about 3 years - replacing those useless endeavors (time wasters) with reading and listening to Podcasts. It paid off, and then I let them back into my life slowly, but nowhere near the level they had been previously.

Like I've said, you should NOT be spending ANY time playing video games, listening to music, watching sports or any TV. Other than a few shows my wife and I watched together, I cut out ALL TV to learn Real Estate Investing. I stopped listening to talk radio, stopped watching sports, stopped watching the news, stopped debating politics - as it was all a waste of my time. When in my car, I'm listening to Audible Books and Podcasts - and I spend a lot of time in my car. You have to decide what you want out of life and what you're willing to sacrifice to get it. Everyone else is spending their time on those things - do you want to be like everyone else? Or do you want to be like almost no one else when it comes to obtaining a massive level of success and financial freedom? Then be different, and start by no longer wasting your time on things that do nothing to improve your outlook for the future.

Is there any song you're going to hear that will make your 2020 better? Any game your going to play or watch that will improve 2020 when compared to 2019? Any movie or TV show that will change your life for the better? Are these things going to put more money in your pocket and set you on a path to financial freedom in 2020?

I know that 2020 will be the best year of my life so far (and I've had a good life), because I'm doing things now to make that happen. If you cannot say the same for your coming year - if you've got nothing underway or getting the process started that stands to make 2020 better for you than 2019, yet you still have time to listen to music and morning comedy talk radio shows on your way to work, you still have time for sports, your still going to be sitting in front of the TV tonight - then you don't want it bad enough - at least not yet. So get back to me when you're ready to replace that wasted drive time with educational material. Or maybe that's when you're listening to me... If so, congrats! Let's continue...

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Outro...

Disclaimer

For certain people, it won't matter how many episodes I (or anyone else) releases explaining all the benefits of (and how great it is) being a Landlord. They just don't want anything to do with it. It could be due to fear of "Tenant Troubles". They may have had a prior bad experience. Or maybe it just seems like a lot of work. Whatever the reason, they won't be investing in any Real Estate, if it also requires being a Landlord.

But there's an alternative... You can be a Real Estate Investor, without also being a Landlord. Be the Bank instead!

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Intro...

Welcome to Episode #31 - Private Lending - Be The Bank… You Can Also Invest In Real Estate As The Lender

No Vacancies... No Leases... No Repairs... No Pests... No "Tenant Troubles"... And certainly no 2 AM calls for toilet clogs (not that that happens anyway) - but that's the fear. You can avoid all this and everything else that people fear about being a Landlord, by being the Bank instead. So fine, you don't want to be the Landlord? Be the Lender! The Private Lender, that is... For other investors who seek to become or grow as Landlords themselves.

So you don't have to be the Landlord to be a Real Estate Investor. Like I said, you can be the Private Lender for other Landlords. You see, most of my BRRRR projects (that being Buy, Rehab, Rent, Refinance, Repeat), are funded initially by either Hard Money or Private Lenders - both of which are actually just Private Lenders. Hard Money Lenders are just professional Private Lenders, and you can invest your money in Real Estate indirectly with them. Or you can invest directly as a Private Lender - of which there are pros and cons with both methods.

I tend to use Hard Money Lenders to fund my projects when either the purchase price and/or rehab expense is rather high. For instance, I've got a project just getting started for which the total loan from a Hard Money Lender for their 80% portion of the purchase price and 100% of the rehab expense totaled over $400,000. And since most individual Private Lenders don't have $400K just laying around (or at least not for a single project) - Hard Money Lenders work best for the higher cost projects, as they're able to pool the money of multiple Private Lenders into higher budget projects. You may even find that some Hard Money Lenders won't fund a project below a certain amount, like $100,000.

Whereas, I tend to get funding directly from individual Private Lenders for the lower costs projects, such as those below the typical Hard Money Lender minimum of $100K; and those projects up to as much as let's say $200,000 or so - can be funded for an amount that is more feasible for many Private Lenders on any given project.

So as the Private Lender, you need to determine if you're most comfortable working within the system of a larger established Hard Money Lender (but likely for a lessor interest rate and lower resulting return). Or if you'll be comfortable establishing your own relationship with one or more individuals who are buying rental properties within the price range and rehab level that you're able to fund the complete project.

Now I can't speak to being a Private Lender within the system and processes of any given Hard Money Lender; because, I personally prefer the knowledge and control that comes from funding the projects directly of individuals that are in my local area who I know personally... But hey, that's just me.

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So let's cover some of the benefits of being a Private Lender - and as we move forward with the conversation, I'm going to speak towards being a direct Private Lender, funding individuals you know personally, likely in your local area; versus lending nationwide to people you don't know, through the system of a given Hard Money Lender - like I said, that's what I prefer, but you do you! If you do start funding projects outside of your local area, at lease stay local for the first few - or make sure you're rock solid confident in that individual or organization and how they run their business and handle their projects.

So when a Private Lender funds one of my projects here in North Carolina (the process may be different in other states) - they get a Promissory Note for the amount being loaned, and a Deed of Trust that get's recorded against the property title, linking the debt to the house. No different than any other mortgage held by a bank, this prevents the property from being sold until the Note has been paid in full.

These documents set the terms, like interest rate, payments, due date, and all; and just like any other mortgage against a property held by a bank - it gives the Private Lender full rights and ability to foreclose on the property and take possession if the terms of the arrangement were to be violated.

So let's say I'm buying a house for $100,000 that needs $20,000 of rehab to then be worth $160,000. If I were to seek funding for this project from a Private Lender at 80% LTV (Loan-To-Value), that would be a loan of $128,000. So I'd be getting 100% of both the purchase price and rehab expense + $8,000. And if closing costs were $3,000, I'd walk away from the closing table on such a purchase with a check in hand for $25,000 - of which $20,000 would go towards the rehab as budgeted; and $5,000 goes to me!

I would hold that extra $5K in reserve to handle my initial holding expenses, including the first payment or two on the loan. Yes, that right - in such a scenario, I would be borrowing the very money that will be used to make the first payment or two back to that Private Lender during the rehab before the property has been rented. I want as little money as possible coming out of my pocket - which makes it a great deal for me.

But it can be argued that it is an even better deal for the Private Lender... So on this same hypothetical purchase with a loan of $128,000, let's say I'm giving this Private Lender 10% interest. That would be a monthly interest only payment (rounded up) of $1,067. And if I were to get this property rented a month or two later for $1,500/mo - you can see that the Private Lender is getting a LOT more of the monthly rent than I am. But it's even worse than that for me... I've also got to pay taxes and insurance out of that. Maybe also an HOA, and something like 25% needs to be held in reserve for future repairs and maintenance, capital expenditures (large ticket repairs), vacancy and property management. By the time you account for all that, I'd be losing money each month. So on numbers like this, I may be only able to pay 8% interest to the Private Lender. So at 8%, that would be a monthly interest only payment (rounded) of $853 - which would give me an additional $213 to work with each month, versus 10% interest.

So I don't guarantee any specific rate to my Private Lenders... While its great to be able to pay that double digit rate of 10%, it really just depends on the numbers of the deal. Because if I'm making $100/mo in positive cash-flow after all expenses and reserves, I don't care that my Private Lender is making over $850/mo in the prior example - as I can buy every house I find that creates this amount cash-flow. And I'm playing the long-term game, trying to acquire as many cash-flow positive properties as I can, so that they can be paid off over time by my Tenants - making me wealthy in the process. But if I'm losing $100/mo, then I can only buy as many as I can cover from my personal funds. And that would also create more risk for the Private Lender. So would you rather have 10% on a losing deal with negative cash-flow for your borrower; or 8% on a deal that pays for itself each month - creating a win for you and your borrower?

And then its up to you as to exactly how low you're willing to go... More deals will create positive cash-flow at 7% or 6% than will at 8%, 9% or 10%. And still more at 5%, but at a certain point its no longer worth it, as the reward becomes outweighed by the risk - especially if you can make 5% or 6% easily elsewhere. For that reason, I look for deals that are a win / win at no less than 7% interest, and I pay 8%, 9% or 10% to my Private Lenders wherever the deal supports it, as I want my lenders to benefit as much as possible - so they'll always be available to fund my deals.

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So one of your benefits as a Private Lender is that you're sitting in the seat of the bank. Should the borrower not pay, you can foreclose and ultimately take possession of the property. Yes, that would be a major headache and you'd have some time and legal cost to do so. But if you keep some amount of cushion between what you fund and what the property is worth (like 80% LTV), then you should be safely able to get the property sold to recapture your principle in this (hopefully unlikely) event. And you'd want to make this a highly unlikely outcome by working with local individuals that you know directly and who are highly experienced in successfully rehabbing properties to rentals and being a Landlord.

And another benefit is that also just like the bank, you're getting the vast majority of the monthly rent as the lender. In the example I gave previously of the property rented for $1,500/mo, on a $128,000 loan at 10% interest, the Private Lender is getting over 71% of the monthly rent. And even at 8% interest, you're still getting almost 57% of the rent. That's over 1/2 the rent coming to you each month as the Private Lender, with none of the responsibilities of being the Landlord. That's a sweet deal.

An additional benefit is, again just like the bank, the Private Lender is listed as the loss-payee on the property insurance policy. So if the house were to somehow burn to the ground, you get a check for your full principle amount. That would be your $128,000 in the prior example. And if the borrower failed to pay the insurance or it was about to lapse for any reason, you get notified directly and can continue the coverage and charge the borrower - just like any other bank would.

The biggest / tallest buildings in every city's downtown area aren't banks for no reason. Being a Private Lender puts your money to work for you in the same manner that pays for all those buildings with bank logos. Your completely isolated from any of the responsibility or liability for the property, while putting over 1/2 the rent in your account each month. Again, that's a sweet deal! Yea, you have to pay taxes on that money, but even that is at a lower rate than ordinary income if you were working for the money, instead of the money working for you.

Oh, its such a sweet deal... Investing in Real Estate without having to dump money into marketing (and be ignored or told "NO / Not Interested" by almost everyone); submit a ton of offers (having nearly every one of them rejected); finally getting something under contract (only to then have to get an appraisal, inspection, quotes, and on); handling vendors and contractors during the rehab; marketing for, screening and on-boarding tenants; collecting rent; and on... plus all the stuff I skipped. If you don't want to be a Landlord, you can avoid all of that and so much more - by just being the bank (a Private Lender).

Although you know, I really recommend being a Landlord, I also know that its just not for everyone - so if that's you, you can still be a Real Estate Investor WITHOUT having to be a Landlord - by being a Private Lender. Or like me, you can also be both!

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So not only do I recommend being a Landlord, but I also recommend being a Private Lender... Or even better - be both! Now this may seem odd since as a Landlord using the BRRRR method, I've already said that most of my projects are funded by Hard Money and Private Lenders. And in prior episodes I've mentioned how I stack my money to have the 20% down-payments, closing costs and other expenses related to buying as many properties as I can. I also have to keep cash on hand for reserves, so all of my funds are occupied in my own projects. So a great question to ask is how I can be a Private Lender to others if I'm having to save for down-payments, keep reserves and I'm borrowing from Hard Money and Private Lenders for my own projects.

The answer is a Self-Directed IRA's - which is one of the best means of being a Private Lender yourself. I'll do a show soon just on Self-Directed IRA's, getting an expert on who can speak to these - but in short it's really no different than any other IRA, Roth-IRA or 401K that you're already familiar with and likely have one or more yourself already. But the difference is that where your typical IRA or 401K only allows you to buy stocks and mutual funds, a Self-Directed IRA allows you to buy or fund almost anything short of collectibles and assets that you directly control.

That's where being the bank on Real Estate Investing comes in. You are able to lend money out of your Self-Directed IRA in the form of a mortgage against Real Estate... As long as you don't directly control that Real Estate. You can't fund your own projects or properties from your own Self-Directed IRA. That is called self-dealing, and it would be a prohibited transaction - very bad.

So if you're like me and had money sitting in an old 401K from a former employer (that you no longer work for) - that money may not be doing much for you, and could even be at risk in the stock market. And you don't want to cash it out and pay the penalties and fees. So I transferred it out to a Self-Directed IRA custodian (which was penalty free), so that I could then use that money to lend on Real Estate for others. Remember, I'm prohibited from investing that money in my own projects - that would be self dealing, a prohibited transaction that could get me hit hard in taxes and penalties. But I can invest it in your project, or anyone else's projects that are not my own.

This means I both borrow from others to fund my projects, while also making loans to some to fund their projects - because I can't use my Self-Directed IRA money to fund my own projects. This creates a wonderful situation if you can find someone else doing what you're doing (or trying to do) with BRRRR investing - where you both have about the same amount of money sitting in an IRA or 401K of a former employer. You can fund each others deals! Get a group together who can all fund deals and also need funding for their own deals - and it can be nearly unlimited funding for everyone in the group.

Now one thing to note - the payments on a loan from a Self-Directed IRA go back to the IRA (not to you) - so that money is not going to be available to you TODAY. But if its a Roth-IRA, that money comes into your IRA TAX FREE! And then you access it at retirement age just as would have otherwise been the case. But as your funds grow in the IRA, you're able to fund more and larger deals, and it really does become a snowball effect. The numbers can get pretty large very quickly.

And you don't even have to start out with very much. You can begin with as little as a few thousand dollars in the account, and use it to fund second position mortgages against properties for other established investors. And then when the balance gets large enough, start funding first position purchases and then later purchases and rehab in the first position.

I've heard of people locking up a wholesale deal with $1,000 in earnest money from their Self-Directed IRA, and then selling that contract for $10,000, and now they've got that amount in their account almost overnight. By that and other methods, you can quickly reach an account balance that allows for funding of more and bigger deals - just never your own deals.

Anyway, not only can having a Self-Directed IRA of your own allow you to be a Private Lender for other investors, but helping individuals with IRA or 401K funds to get them over to a Self-Directed custodian can lead to almost unlimited funding for your projects.

And even if you don't have an existing IRA or 401K in place that you can get Self-Directed, the cost to get one setup it cheap and it's pretty easy to do so. And you should read books like [The Richest Man In Babylon], which teach the concept of paying yourself first. As such, setup a Self-Directed Roth-IRA and Solo-401K, and put a percentage of your monthly income into each at whatever level you're able, in addition to saving outside of these accounts for your 20% down-payments, reserves, and on. Then be a Private Lender to others to grow your account balances, while also working to get Private Lender funding for our own deals. And like I said, it's great if you can find another investor who's doing this same thing, so that you can fund each others deals.

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So I think you've got the idea... As a Rehab to Rental (BRRRR) Investor, having your deals funded by Private Lenders is the best it gets - because the terms are often better than you'll ever get from a bank or Hard Money lender. I often have 100% of both my purchase price and rehab funded by Private Lenders, and often even more up to 80%, 85% or maybe even 90% LTV. I don't like to go above 90%, but that's rarely possible anyway and still have positive cash-flow - which should be your requirement for protection of both yourself and your Private Lenders.

And then as the Private Lender, you benefit greatly without having to be a Landlord (but again, you should be both). And you're protected against loss with a Note and Deed of Trust against the property allowing you to take possession of the property through foreclose (or Deed In Lieu of Foreclosure) in the event of breach of the contract. And your the loss-payee on the insurance policy, further protecting you from loss in the event of a covered event, such as fire. Its up to you if you require flood insurance, or just on those properties that are within a flood plain. But I also require coverage for wind damage and named storms, as well as, water / sewer backup and loss of rents. But flood coverage can kill the cash-flow numbers and potentially only allow the deal to work at a lower interest rate to you - so your choice.

In the members area of the Podcast Website that I'll be releasing next year, one of many elements of premium content I'll make available is my Private Lender Credibility Packet, which is a 30 page booklet that I print up for each Private Lender meeting. It goes over how Private Lending works, how the lender is protected, how the funds are provided - such as that they're wired directly to the closing attorney (not directly to me or my company). It also gives details about me, my background and my company. And it gives details about several of my prior projects. This is something that you can customize to fit your business and background to start securing Private Lenders for your projects.

I'll also provide my Note and Deed of Trust used here in North Carolina, that you'll need to get a version created that works in your state - and many other documents, templates, scripts and guides. I think you'll find this all helpful, as the first deal is the hardest to get funded by a Private Lender, but each one gets easier after that.

And for those of you seeking to become Private Lenders who might like to fund one of my future deals, submit the [Get In Touch] form at either andlandlord.com or bluechariot.com - and we can schedule a call to discuss your needs. I don't have anything under contract or in works that needs funding at this moment, but that can change daily - so let's talk! When I do, it will be a single-family home or small-multiple family for which the first position lender would fund the purchase price and maybe some or all of the rehab; and if there's is room for a 2nd position lender, it would be for the rehab.

And I require a minimum term of 18 months, because that gives me enough time to own the property for 1 year of seasoning (often a requirement) before then refinancing into a 30-year fixed rate loan to payoff the original Private Lender. And by then, I normally would have another deal ready to go to keep the funds working for you if that's your goal. I pay monthly interest only payments and the principle is returned or (if you choose) reinvested in another property at refi into the conventional long-term loan.

So I highly recommend being both a Private Lender... and Landlord! But if your not seeking to become a Landlord, you should at least benefit from Real Estate Investing as the Bank, also known as a Private Lender.

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Outro...

Disclaimer

OK, so the full title of this Podcast is "Husband, Father, Entrepreneur, Realtor... and Landlord!" - and in today's episode, I'm going to speak at little about that first aspect of the title - Husband. Or at least in so much as it relates to how my Wife and I work together to achieve our mutual financial goals.

And then that also gets into my being an Entrepreneur, Realtor... and Landlord!" - and how I wouldn't be able to do any of these things if I didn't have the full support of my Wife. Do you have your Spouses full support? Does he or she have yours?

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Intro...

Welcome to Episode #30 - Becoming / Being A Landlord With (Hopefully Not In Spite Of) Your Spouse

So let me start by saying that my Wife, is the Woman! I got what might be the most important decision of a person's life - RIGHT - the FIRST time (and therefore what will be the ONLY time for me)! Let me tell you... The only person who's more blessed in this 19 year marriage than me, is my Wife - because she REALLY got her spousal choice right. I mean... Come on!?

Now of course my Wife and I LOVE each other, but if I were to attempt to sum up our marriage in a single word - it would be TRUST. We TRUST each other implicitly. The amount of TRUST that my wife has placed in me over these nearly 2 decades of marriage almost verges into the level of being FAITH. Which then creates a massive responsibility on my part not to betray or even do anything to stress that FAITH she's placed in me.

I've had the full Support / Trust / Faith - whatever you want to call it - of my Wife, since nearly the very start of our relationship. She believed in, and supported me...

- When I... Would have her packing and dropping off orders for delivery related to my Online Gift Sales Business that I started in 1996 - before meeting her. It was PerfectGifts.com - which I still own that Domain Name, although the site's no longer online. Because she believed in, and supported me...

- When I... Shifted focus away from that Gift Business, over to a new Web Design & Programming Business in 1999 - just before we got married. And she believed in, and supported me...

- When I... Bought an expensive server to add Web Hosting services in 2000 with the server (unbelievably now) being in my 2nd bedroom and a raid alert siren that woke us if it went down

- When I... Quit my job in 2002 to go fully self-employed in the Web Programming and Web Hosting business (with the servers thankfully now being in a local Datacenter) - and just a few months after buying our first house

- When I... Then put that house up as collateral against a $100,000 SBA Loan to grow the Web Hosting Business, along with taking on about $200,000 of additional debt for new servers, software and other equipment the business needed.

And she supported me...

- When I... Started spending money to travel all around the country to attend various trade shows and conferences - networking and investing in my personal education and growth.

- When I... Took on a business partner who eventually became 40% owner of the company - only to later (thankfully amicably) buy him out over a 3 year period to get back to being 100% owner.

And she still supported me...

- When In.... 2009 I lost a large number of my customers who themselves were struggling in the economic state at that time - almost going out of business as a result. There are no tears from an Entrepreneur like those shed when you think the business has failed that you've put nearly a decade of effort into (blood, sweat and tears - as the saying goes).

Yet she still supported me through years more of something like 16 hour days damn near 7 days a week - well into 2011, 12, & 13. Still supported me when I'm certain I'm so close that just one more conference, trade show or seminar, one more software system, one more vendor service, one more marketing campaign, one more website improvement or one more employee - would be that solution to the multi-million dollar business I've been trying to build for over a decade.

No joke... My Wife knows how you can make a Million Dollars in gross revenue for the year - and have almost NOTHING to show for it - because you've got to re-invest in the business... don't you!?

I remember watching a Shark Tank Episode with my wife and whoever the presenter was - they had Millions in sales, but LOST money for the year and had paid themselves little to nothing. Well, my Wife had first hand experience on how that happens. It's not a good feeling and would have brought a lessor woman to a place of outward frustration, if not outright anger or resentment. But not my wife. She still supported me...

- When I tried to sell the business, with the promise of a 6-figure job at the purchasing company - but it fell through.

- And then in 2014, when my business partner buy-out was done, sales were at an all-time high, expenses were the lowest they'd ever been, debt was low, and I was able to pay myself a normalized salary with money still left over in the company - good times! I was also working fewer hours than ever before - everything was great! When I mentioned I'd like to put this money aside to start a new company - buying Rental Properties.

Yep... Just when things were going well, and we were finally starting to see the pay-off of the prior decade of effort - I decided to change industries and start doing something I've never done before. I'm going to be a Real Estate Investor and Landlord! Where's my wife in that? Right beside me, going to look at properties.

Still believing in me and fully supporting me as I...

- Give up listening to music - which I love.
- Gave up watching basketball and football - which I also love.
- Gave up listening to political talk radio and debating matters of politics with friends and family
- Gave up watching TV
- And started going to an whole new type of trade-show, seminars and conferences

... all to learn how to become and excel as a Real Estate Investor and Landlord. I was determined that this time it wouldn't take me over a decade to succeed. I would learn from my prior experiences in business (both good and bad) to accelerate my outcome as a Real Estate Investor.

All the while, there's my wife in full support. And don't get me wrong... "Full Support", and the Trust / Faith I spoke of earlier - doesn't entail her silence. She's far from silent on the actions I take and decisions made. She contributes her insight, guidance and direction - but that is far different than the barriers should could have imposed. That's what I mean by having her full support. She believes in me and that I will be successful in my endeavors and she aids however she can in that outcome. She makes it possible for me to swing for the fences with my entrepreneurial endeavors.

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So as a result of the amazing support from my wife over these past 20 years... Wow, 20 years! I've managed to create an IT company at: ViUX.com (spelled V-I-U-X.com) - offering Web Hosting, Domain Names, SSL Certificates, and everything else a person or small business could need to have an awesome website. That business is going great and has been profitable for nearly the last 10 years. Its hard to know what its worth, but its not like I'm looking to sell it now anyway. And I've got some things in works for ViUX that will make it even more profitable.

But ultimately, ViUX is tech business with a small number of employees, in a world dominated by billion dollar tech companies having many tens of thousands of employees - who are almost giving away the services that I'm trying to sell. So I can't say I'll be able to continue fighting against those odds for another 10+ years - even with the amazing support from my wife. I might have to eventually let it go, so that's why I wanted to get into another business that has more certainty for the future.

And as such, since 2015, I've been able to acquire a few Million in Real Estate and thousands in monthly positive cash-flow after expenses - from the rental income. That's why I wanted to start a Real Estate Business, and that business is Blue Chariot.

And I've gotta tell you - it's pretty cool to see the payoff of our efforts and have two profitable businesses to show for it. And really, both ViUX and Blue Chariot are actually brands that represent many different areas of business, such as how Blue Chariot is Blue Chariot Properties, Blue Chariot Realty, Blue Chariot Management, and this Podcast is by Blue Chariot Media.

So these have been some of the best years of our lives, but its not like we haven't enjoyed ourselves along the way. We're just getting back from a trip to Dubai and Egypt in August, and we've taken multiple nice vacations each year since we got married. It's easier to get that spousal support if you're living a pretty good life along the way.

And I'm not saying any of this to brag... My point is that we've taken some pretty big risks. Made lots of sacrifices, but still managed to enjoy life. And now all these years later, things are starting to pay off big time. But it would not have been possible if my wife and I had not been on the same page. We tend to agree on most things, finances being a critical one - as that's what creates problems in most marriages.

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So if you're entrepreneurial (or maybe that's your spouse) - start the journey on the right foot by getting on the same page with your spouse when it comes to finances. It really is easier to start a business or buy rental properties (whatever) - when you have your spouses full support and you're on the same page when it comes to finances; and other matters, like life / work balance.

Remember, I mentioned that for a span of years I was working something like 16 hour days, almost 7 days per week, often not coming to bed until something like 3 AM. There was a time that even when on vacation (like when we'd go on a cruise) - I had to go to whatever deck the Internet Cafe was on and pay per-minute to use the Internet (this being before cruise-ships had pretty-much ship wide unlimited high-speed Internet access). It was not uncommon for me to spend something like $350 just on Internet access time. How would your spouse react to not just the expense of money, but also the expense of time - when you're supposed to be on vacation?

And there were many things affected by the fact that I was self-employed. I was able to provide health insurance for myself and employees prior to 2009, but when the down-turn hit, that had to go - as did many of the employees. I Just couldn't afford it... But I was able to get my insurance coverage from my wife's job. So swinging for the fences on business risks was made easier in my case knowing that we wouldn't end up homeless if I failed. We had kept our spending and expenses in check such that even though it might not have been pretty, we could live on one salary.

Anyway, being on the same page as your spouse when it comes to finances - spending, savings, investments, bills and household expenses, food, clothing, entertainment, vacations (you name it) - it'll make your entrepreneurial endeavor go much more smoothly. And that assumes you have your spouses confidence in being able to pull it off. If not, you might want to start by addressing that first.

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Now since this is the [... and Landlord!] Rental Real Estate Investing Podcast, and I'm supposed to be speaking on "Becoming / Being A Landlord With (Hopefully Not In Spite Of) Your Spouse" - let's start talking more directly to that.

If confidence is lacking - If you have a bad reputation with your spouse when it comes to business; or maybe they just don't think you're cut out for being a Landlord - start working on that first. Because they likely also have the typical fears that Tenants aren't going to pay the rent on time. That they're going to destroy the property - on top of not paying rent. That your going to have to evict them, and in between now and then, you're going to get calls at 2 AM every other night about a toilet clog or some other matter that get's you out of bed.

Trust me, my wife had all those same concerns about "Tenant Troubles", but thankfully her faith in me overcame them - at least long enough to try it out with one. And that's really all you have to do... get one, only one. And on top of that, read books, attend seminars join associations, and listen to podcasts (like this one) - to gain access to the information you need to succeed at being a Landlord. And along the way, expose your spouse to as much of it as you can.

My wife and I had fun going to look at a lot of properties together - especially once I got my Real Estate License and can enter houses on my own as we went about town. She also attended at least a couple of seminars with me, but even when I went without her, we would discuss in detail all that I had learned. All along the way, this was something we were doing together, even though directly it was my thing - we're a team!

So as early in your journey as possible, get your spouse out to as many properties as possible. Let them see first hand as you go over all the problems with the property and take notes. Then show them your estimate of the needed rehab and repairs, and run your numbers on the property, such that they can see how profitable a purchase it might prove to be - or not. As it's also a great confidence builder to see you eliminate properties from consideration that are too expensive or require too much rehab or won't earn enough rental income - or any combination of the 3 (and much more), that may or may not result in a great rental property.

Seeing you do this, along with attending some of the seminars, watching some webinars, listening to podcasts - it may all build confidence in your spouse that you are really are going to be able to make this work. And if you've failed at prior endeavors - that you are really going to be able to make it work THIS TIME. So even if you've had some past failures or not followed through to completion on some prior endeavors - you can build confidence that THIS time its real. And you may be surprised... It may not only be in your spouse in which confidence needs to be built that you can do this. You might need to convince yourself of it as well. The same process will work for both of you.

I succeed in everything I do - eventually. But until then, I fail and encounter set backs just like everyone else. My goal is to fail fast and often - so that I can get on to success as quickly as possible. If you learn from a failure that didn't kill you or cause permanent bodily harm - then it was likely a needed occurrence on the way to success.

And if you're able to get your spouse thinking along those same lines, it'll make it all that much easier for them to support your efforts. Now I came to think of failure and setbacks in this manner because to a degree its in my nature, but it really came to be my way of thinking as result of books I've read. Something about hearing a point of reasoning expressed in clear, logical and undeniable terms has a way of becoming a part of you, especially if its already there to some extent.

For example, the book [Rich Dad Poor Dad] is not really all that great of a book. But it puts into clear terms and sound reasoning something that most of us just know instinctively already - that you're not going to get rich working 40 hours per week for someone else and following conventional wisdom when it comes to matters of finance. Because if conventional financial teaching were correct, then we'd all be rich!

But you can get rich if your spouse is working that kind of job, to keep things stable in the house-hold, while you swing for the fences for both of you in an entrepreneurial endeavor, like Rental Property Investing and following a financial plan that's actually proven to create millionaires. Or, like me, you can have more than one business. If I had time, I'd start an Amazon business - because I would certainly knock that out of the park, and put every dime of it into more rental properties. When I had PerfectGifts.com all those years ago, most of my sales took place on Amazon anyway.

So now I'm a Realtor with Blue Chariot Realty and a Property Manager with Blue Chariot Management... all to make more money so that I can obtain more Rental Properties with Blue Chariot Properties. And none of it would have happened if my spouse were not in full support and on the same page as me when it comes to finances (what we spend our money on, how much, and what we don't spend it on), savings and investment, life / work balance - and all. Being in-sync with your spouse can open the door to all sorts of mutually beneficial endeavors, a great marriage, and a happy life.

And not just her... It also creates some great bonding opportunities with my son. While I don't do as much rehab work myself as I did early on, I still like to put up blinds and other minor tasks that I enjoy doing and would otherwise have to pay hundreds for someone else to do it on my behalf. So I bring my son along and give him tasks that fit with his age and size. He's helped me replace outlet covers (with the power off). He's even helped me tile a bathroom back-splash. I then occasionally hear him talking about some of the work he's done in "my dad's rental properties". I thought I was going to cry when I recently heard him say something like "if you think you can't do something then you can't do it; but if you think you can do it, then you can!" - hey I'm getting in there, I'm in there somewhere.

And how much more likely is your spouse to be in favor of something that they can see is having a positive impact on your child or children - while also building wealth and a better life for them in the process? So get your spouse excited about what you have planned for the coming year, two or three. Whatever obstacles might be in your way, a year, two or three is certainly enough time to get over them, or around them - or just push them aside long enough to squeeze through.

If credit is your challenge, you can cure that in as little as 6 months (ask me how). If you think you've not got the money to buy a rental property, maybe you don't - or maybe you do and you're just not aware of it. Believe it or not, that is possible. Or maybe you don't even need any money (or as much as you think you do) - listen to last week's episode on Lease-Options, and I'm sure I'll eventually be doing an episode on Seller-Financing.

But get your spouse excited and get them reading certain books along with you, like [Rich Dad Poor Dad], or [Secrets of the Millionaire Mind]. These and many other great books for changing mindset are listed on the Books page at: andlandlord.com/books. And if you and your spouse are not on the same page when it comes to finances, saving and investing - then you've both got to read [The Richest Man in Babylon]. It's an amazing book for changing how you handle your money.

And if getting your spouse to read a book like that would be harder than getting them to try skydiving (something I am going to try one day), then get a subscription to Audible and bookmark specific short sections, just little segments that you'd like for them to hear - and play those sections whenever you have their attention and finances or Real Estate is on your mind.

While my wife is not trying to read [Extreme Ownership] or [How To Win Friends And Influence People] - she will certainly listen to a short outtake that's relevant to something I'm trying to do; or listen to me speaking on a certain point that might relate to something that occurred in her day at work.

And whenever I'm driving, everyone in the car is listening to whatever podcast or book I'm listening to at that time - as I'm always listening to something about business, real estate or just mindset in general.

Show your spouse how serious you are about this endeavor and the changes that it will require. My wife couldn't help but to see that I was serious when I signed up for classes to get my Real Estate License. This after I had already stopped watching TV, including no more sports - which previously consumed my Sunday's and more.

I lead by example on everything I was doing, and made the information about it something that she would come to understand fully - even without her diving in head first along with me to learn it all directly for herself.

Assuming you have a spouse who thinks clearly and has reasonable judgement - how would they not be on-board with something they can clearly see you're passionate about and that they understand the power it will have to transform your financial-life for the better!?

If you said - Hey, we're going to save $20,000 over the next X years; and once we have it, we're going to use that to cover our 20% down-payment ($16,000) and closing costs ($4,000) on an $80,000 investment property purchase. I've learned how to get a lender to give us the other 80% ($64,000) of the purchase price, plus 100% of any needed rehab expense. So let's say the needed rehab is $50,000 to result in a property that's worth $180,000. We'll have $130,000 invested, but we'll create $50,000 of new value!

We then rent this house out for $1,500/mo, before starting the refi process. So we then refi the house at 75% of the new $180,000 value, taking out a new loan for $135,000. This is enough to pay off the original rehab loan of $114,000, and get back our original $20,000 investment. There's even $1,000 left over to reimburse us for interest payments on the original rehab loan prior to getting it rehabbed and rented. So then we own a cash-flow positive rental that has an infinite ROI, since we've gotten all our money back out. A perfect BRRRR deal (Buy, Rehab, Rent, Refinance, Repeat).

But even if such a property is only worth $155,000 after rehab (instead of $180,000) - and you can't get your $20,000 back out, is it really that bad? Let's say you're making $200/mo in positive cash-flow... That's $2,400 per year / $20,000 * 100 = 12% ROI. That's awesome! But what if you're making $300/mo - which is not uncommon. Well that's 18% ROI! So failure to pull off a BRRRR that returns all your initial investment means you are "punished" with a 12% or even 18% ROI. And no joke, I have returns on money I've left in properties that's 3 times that! And that doesn't even consider tax benefits, appreciation, amortization - any of the other ways you make money on rental properties.

Your spouse wouldn't be persuaded by these considerations? They wouldn't want an asset that makes them money, increases their wealth - and someone else (the Tenant) pays all the expenses? You do this once (the right way), and they'll be hooked right along with you. And if not immediately, they certainly will be once they get a tax refund check after having owed taxes in prior years.

Presentation, Execution and Proof... Handle this correctly and you can convert even the most skeptical spouse into a Real Estate Investor... and Landlord!

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Outro...

Disclaimer

Most people rule out Real Estate Investing as something they can do, because they don't have the 20% down-payment that's often required to purchase an investment property.

But did you know...? Alternate methods exist that can get you into a rental property with little to nothing down! On this episode, I tell my story of how I've used Lease-Options to control and later buy 3 rental properties - which will hopefully give you some insight into how you may be able to do the same.

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Intro...

Welcome to Episode #29 - Making Deals With Lease Options - How I've Done It

So how do you get into a rental property with little to nothing down? One method is called Seller Financing - but in full disclosure, I've not yet done a Seller Financed deal directly, so I'll talk about that later - once I've actually done one myself.

But what I HAVE done is a Lease Option deal... In fact, I've done 3! And then I later completed each purchase a year to two after the lease term started.

If you're not aware, a Lease-Option is a two part contract - the LEASE and the OPTION to BUY. And its an OPTION to buy, not a REQUIREMENT - but more on that later.

In a Lease-Option deal, you are leasing the property for a period of time (essentially no different than would be the case for a Tenant of any Rental Property) - but with a few additional provisions and considerations. And you then also have an Option to Buy the property at some later date, for an already established price.

Its a two-part contract, because the Lease portion establishes your right to control the property as if you were the Tenant, but with the additional right to sub-lease to the actual live-in Tenant of your choosing. And the Option portion establishes your right to the property as the future Buyer, and sets your purchase price and other terms of the purchase, such as the date by which it must take place and several other factors. The Option portion of the contract must be notarized and gets recorded against the title or deed of the property at your local Register of Deeds office. This prevents the owner from selling the property to anyone else but you, during the Option period.

So with a valid Lease-Option contract in place against a property, you effectively fully control that property (depending on the specific terms of the arrangement), but you don't actually own it - yet.

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So I've successfully done 3 Lease-Option deals to date. In order, they were my 4th, 5th and 6th properties acquired - and I count the establishment of the Lease-Option as the acquisition date, even though I didn't actually complete the purchases until a year or two later for each.

I got each of these properties under Lease-Option contracts within months of each other in 2016, and completed the purchase of 2 of the 3 in 2017; and the third in late 2018. All 3 of these properties were in the same Townhouse community where my very first rental property is located, that I acquired in July of 2015.

Of course, I liked this community, so I started sending monthly direct mail pieces to every Townhouse owner. But most didn't respond. Some who did respond were completely unreasonable - especially those who were investors, owning the properties as rentals. One investor offered to sell me his rental units in the community for $150,000 each; whereas, I had bought mine for just under $61,000 - and these units aren't even worth that much TODAY, let alone back in 2016. They're worth about $135,000 now.

But over time, some owners started to responded who were not completely unreasonable in what they wanted for their properties. That's when it got interesting.

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One owner called who owed just under $70,000 on their 2BR / 1.5BA Townhouse in the community - but I didn't know what they owed at the time. They wanted to sell it to me for that amount. While today I would jump all over that with a full cash offer and have it closed in a week or two. Back then, cash was tight and I knew that most of these units needed something like $10,000 of rehab and upgrades to be rental ready.

Also, this would have been my 4th investment property purchase. I had done the first 3 in my personal name, along with my wife - but qualifying for each was getting progressively more difficult. I had to put down 25% on the 3rd just to make it work, whereas, I was able to put down 20% on the first two. So I didn't think I could qualify and have sufficient down-payment funds, plus reserves as required to close on this purchase conventionally.

Further, I just didn't want to pay $70,000, when I had bought the first for just under $61,000 - that just happened to be identical and literally right next door. And it was not in as good of condition either. So I offered them $61,000 and I was going to do whatever I needed to complete the purchase at that amount using conventional financing. But they refused the offer. And like I said, I didn't know why at the time, but I later learned that it was because they owed $70,000 (or almost that amount), so accepting my offer at $61,000 would mean that they'd have to come up with about $9,000 at closing - money that they did not have.

So they decided to look into listing it with a Realtor or maybe doing a short-sale. I also tried to speak with them about doing a Lease-Option as a potential solution, but they weren't interested - and then things went silent with them.

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So months went by during which I continued sending direct mail pieces to every house - except that investor who had multiple units and gave me a ridiculous price of $150,000 each. Then I got a call from another prospective seller in the community. This time it was an end-unit, 3 bedroom with 1 full bath and 2 half baths. They were upside-down, owing about $80,000 - but the most I could pay is about $70,000 considering it again needed over $10,000 of rehab and updates to be rental ready.

So I suggested a Lease-Option as a solution right from the start and I scheduled an in-person meeting to go over how everything would work to our mutual benefit.

It was my first in-person seller meeting... I was so nervous, that I had to focus a portion of my attention on making sure my hands weren't shaking, which then resulted in my legs bouncing. Somehow I got through it and gave a creditable enough presentation that they agreed to do a Lease-Option deal with me where I'd buy the Townhouses for $69,900 at some point within the next 2 years - with an optional 3rd year upon payment of an additional $1,000. And between now and then, I'd directly pay only 1/2 of the monthly mortgage payment, which included escrow for taxes and insurances, and I'd pay all of the monthly HOA fee. I couldn't pay the full mortgage + escrow payment and still have the needed monthly positive cash-flow, so it had to be 1/2 + HOA.

I'd also be responsible for paying any other expenses associated with the property - including any needed rehab / updates, repairs / maintenance, everything. So if the HVAC went out, I'd have to pay for it or a replacement. And since the Option portion of the contract must be accompanied by some exchange of value, I paid a $100 Option Fee, which is non-refundable, but does get credited back to me as a pre-payment at purchase closing when that occurs.

I didn't get any credit for my HOA or 1/2 mortgage payments over the Lease term, but my payments towards the mortgage along with the other 1/2 from the seller over that 2 year period resulted in his no longer being upside-down once I completed the purchase years later. In fact, he got some money back at the purchase closing.

So the benefit to the seller was that they started something like $10,000 upside-down with a Townhouse that needed maybe another $10,000 of rehab work. They had just gotten married and his spouse already had a house they were moving into, so they didn't need this second house, but couldn't sell it being upside-down and couldn't rent it out being in need of lots of work - that is if he even wanted to try his hand at being a Landlord (and he didn't).

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Then weeks after I had this first Lease-Option established, that first potential seller who had decided to look into selling with a Realtor or maybe doing a short-sell - and had gone silent on me. They called again and wanted to speak with me further about a Lease-Option. I'm not sure what happened... Maybe they had spoken to the other seller that I had done a deal with a short time earlier. Whatever it was, they were now interested in at least hearing more.

So I scheduled an in-person meeting to discuss it. And an amazing thing happened... I wasn't nervous. I was now experienced at this. I knew that I could do it; I had done it before; and now I knew better what to say and how to say it. We had a great meeting, but they wanted to think about it. They were getting married also, and so just like the first seller, they didn't need two houses, couldn't sell this house due to being upside-down, and didn't have the money needed to rehab it into a rental - nor did they have any desire to become a Landlord. And even more so than the first seller, they really needed to get out from under the mortgage and HOA payments for this unwanted Townhouse.

A few days later they called and said they wanted to proceed. But whereas the first deal had an Option Fee of only $100; this seller wanted $1,000 - but not paid to them. They were way behind on HOA payments, so my $1,000 Option Fee was to be paid directly to the HOA to bring them current - and I would still get credit for this amount at purchase closing.

The mortgage payment here was a lot lower than on the first deal, so I agreed to pay their entire monthly mortgage payment directly, including escrow for taxes and insurances - along with the HOA fee as well - like I said, they needed to be free from all payments towards this house. But this seller didn't want to go out 2 or 3 years on the Option period, so we agreed to 18 months with an optional additional 6 months for another $1,000 - paid to them this time if that occurred.

And that was just a protection for me. I don't know what the economic conditions are going to be 18 months from now; or what my personal financial circumstance would be - so I just like to have an additional cushion, even if it costs me a little extra.

I got everything drawn up by my attorney and ready for notarizing - and then they called and said they had changed their mind (again); and now no longer wanted to proceed. So I said, hey the choice to proceed (or not) is 100% up to you, but I'm happy to have another call or stop by to discuss any concerns. So we had another call and I learned that they had gone to a party or something that prior weekend and mentioned to a family friend (who I think may have also been an attorney) - and they were scared out of proceeding by whatever that person told them. I think their main concern had to do with potentially being sued by my future tenant (their still being the property owner); or me failing to pay the bills as agreed - and just tying up their house with no real intention of buying it. Remember that a confused or scared mind just says no.

So I followed up the call with what must have been a highly persuasive email, because a few days later they called again and wanted to meet with me once more. I scheduled that meeting at one of my other rental properties (the 3rd one that was still vacant at the time) - and they again agreed to proceed. I said great! And I quickly arranged to have the Lease signed and Option contract notarized and recorded.

And note that I purposely had that meeting at one of my other properties, so they could see that I was already doing this and owned properties nicer than what I was potentially buying from them. I don't know if that had any impact, but it's also worth noting that I have nice business cards, a great website, a great company / brand name - and that name is Blue Chariot, and I drive around in a very nice BLUE Ford F-150 with Blue Chariot signs all over it. It may mean nothing, but I think presentation and credibility matters when you're asking someone to trust you. Trust that you will improve their property, that you will pay all the bills on time as agreed, and that you will eventually buy the house - but until then, please give me full access and control over your house for essentially nothing. I don't think that you can pull that off if you don't look and sound like you are legitimate / real, honest / trustworthy and knowledgeable / experienced.

So, long story short... I got the property rehabbed and rented, and around 15 months later, I completed the purchase and the seller got a nice check at closing. They had gone from being upside-down to having a profitable sale. They also gave me a great testimonial, and they are now one of the people I'll have potential Private Lenders and sellers speak with to learn if I'm a person of my word and able to do what I say. They're the perfect reference, because they went in scared and came out whole and happy - with everything happening EXACTLY as I said it would.

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So now at this point I've got 5 rental properties and the last 2 were via Lease-Option - and then I get another call from a relative of an owner in this same community. She knew the sellers of the first Lease-Option deal that I had done, and wanted me to speak with her relative about potentially buying his slightly upside-down Townhouse as well.

So were these people responding to my mailings? Did they see my truck driving through the community with Blue Chariot signs? Or was it all just the result of comments or referrals from that first seller that opened the door to consideration of a Lease-Option deal by the others? Who knows? Who cares!?

I was now sitting in the living room of the third potential seller within this community, and my days of being nervous about speaking with them was long gone. I presented the values and benefits of doing a Lease-Option deal with me, and this seller agreed as well. And unlike the others, he was not significantly upside down (just a little) - and the property was not in all that much need of rehab compared to the others. He had done a nice job at keeping it well maintained an clean. Also, unlike the others, he wasn't getting married to a spouse who already had a house that they were moving into - but I think he was changing jobs and needed to relocate.

So here, I agreed to pay $72,500 for the 3BR / 2BA Townhouse within 18 months, with again an optional 6 months pushing it out to 2 years for another $1,000. And I agreed to pay the full monthly mortgage payment, including escrow for taxes and insurance - plus the monthly HOA fee. But the Options Fees kept getting higher... This time I paid a $3,000 as an Option Fee directly to the seller, which again, I got credited back to me at closing of the purchase about 2 years later as a pre-payment towards the purchase price.

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So there you have it... That is the condensed version of how I took down my 4th, 5th and 6th properties as Lease-Option deals. The first cost me only $100 up-front to the seller as an Option Fee; the second was $1,000 paid to the HOA; and the third Option Fee was $3,000 paid to the seller. Additionally, I had to pay for all needed rehab of the properties as needed to make each rental ready.

This all may sound like a lot, but $1,000 or even $3,000 is nothing compared to 20% down on a $70,000 property - that's $3,000 versus $14,000 or so. And then you'd still have the same additional expenses for rehab either way.

But let's speak on that for a moment... Let's say that my rehab expense for one of the properties was $9,000. And as each Lease-Option went for at least 18 months, that comes out to $500 per month. And without accounting for reserves, each of these properties generated positive cash-flow of at least that amount. This means that by the time I completed each purchase up to 2 years later, I had little to no money remaining in the property. The property (that I did not even own yet) - had produced enough positive cash-flow to pay for itself and pay me back. That essentially makes these FREE houses!

But it got even better... Over the term of the Option period, these properties had increased in value - so I wanted to get a bank loan based upon the current appraised value, and maybe take some cash out myself at purchase. But the problem with that is that most conventional lenders (or at least those that I reached out to) - would not do a cash-out loan based upon 75% of the current appraised value, because I didn't already own the properties for the required 1 year of "seasoning". A Lease-Option is not ownership. And you can't do a cash-out purchase from a Lease-Option - or at least not with a conventional lender.

So what I did instead... I got a Private Lender to fund my purchase of each property at 80% of current appraised value - but it was at 9% interest, which is likely twice what I would have paid to a conventional lender under my personal name. This put some cash in my hand for each property, but it also increased my monthly payments. So monthly cash-flow decreased, but I had gotten all my money back out of each property. So they truly were now FREE properties, and my ROI on the remaining positive monthly cash-flow was essentially infinite, as I no longer had any of my own money invested.

And then a year later I was able to refi the Private Lender out on 2 of the 3, and in those cases, I was able to pull out still more cash - as the properties had continued to increase in value - and since I now had actually owned them for a year, I could do a cash-out refi. I expect to be able to do the same on the 3rd when I refi the Private Lender out on that one within the next few months, And despite the mortgage on the property getting larger, my monthly payments decreased because the interest rates went from 9% to something like 5.5% under my LLC.

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So it was a multi-step process, but I had successfully taken 3 properties from being upside-down for the sellers to being positive cash-flow rentals for me - and now with a ton of equity present in each.

But how or why did this work? And can it still be done today, in the current market condition? Was this something that worked in 2016 or 2017 - but has no chance of working here in 2019 or the coming year of 2020?

In all honestly, I can't answer that question with 100% certainty, as I had shifted my focus (possibly mistakenly) from single-family homes, trying to get multi-family properties and even apartment complexes - so I've not been pursuing opportunities for additional Lease-Options deals this year. But my gut instinct is that now that I'm looking for single-family homes again, I will continue to do Lease-Option deals wherever it makes sense. But it has to make sense! So what are the elements that need to be present for a Lease-Option to be attractive to the seller?

There does need to be a reason for it. If the property owner has a pristine house that's in move-in ready condition, ready to sell at top market price; and less is owed than the value... Then WHY would such an owner not just sell the conventional way? Of course, that's what they'll do! Their certainly not going to be doing any Lease-Option deals - they don't have to!

In 2 of my 3 Lease-Option deals, the sellers had just gotten (or was in the process of getting) married, and their spouses already had a house into which they were planning to move. They didn't need the house I was seeking to buy, but they couldn't sell it conventionally due to being upside-down and not having the money to cover the difference. And then the Plan-B of renting it out was also blocked, because the house needed lots of rehab and updates to make rental ready. And they had no desire to become Landlords anyway. So in other words, there were multiple pain points - all of which were solved by the Lease-Option.

So while it is less common for someone to be upside-down in the current market with home values at or near all-time highs, I recommend targeting pre-foreclosures, tax liens and tax delinquencies. Also not a bad idea to target Landlords of existing rentals, where the property is physically distressed or they just had an eviction or code violation. And there are a high number of vacant properties. You can also target any house that needs significant rehab work to be rental ready or to sell at market price - and you can find them just driving for dollars. Or do what I did - find a neighborhood that you like and send direct mail to everyone in it.

So don't say it can't be done. Don't say it worked then but can't work now. A Lease-Option is a viable solution for the right circumstance of problems. Use it as just as you would any other tool in your belt as a "Transaction Engineer". It can work great when you don't have a lot of money. It can also work great when the rehab actions needed at a property can be paid by credit card - especially if you have access to zero-interest promotions.

And an additional selling point is that the owner continues to get the full tax benefits, mortgage interest deduction and any escrow refunds during the Option period.

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Now if you have additional questions about Lease-Options, or you want access to my contract, terms, provisions, and all... including my phone and email scripts, talking points, checklists and more - I'll be working on some premium content that I'll be making available early next year. I've been reluctant to share these items. For example, I've gotten multiple requests for my lease. But I have a problem sharing someone else's work product - which in that case would be the work of my attorney.

So I'm working towards being able to share everything to that level in a membership section of the site in the near future. But until then, I hope that you found details such that I've shared here and in prior episodes of the Podcast to be helpful. That's my goal... To make this as informative a resource as I can that chronicles my journey and gives access to what I (and others I occasionally bring on the show) have learned along the way - to thereby shorten your journey to the same point and way beyond. Go out and do great things - and hey, let me know how I can help. Right now I'm still conducting FREE 30 minute consultation calls with anyone having questions about Real Estate Investing and being a Landlord that I might be able to answer or provide some direction or insight. Reach out and let's see if I can be of aid... Its Free!

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Outro...

Disclaimer

I've got another announcement about Blue Chariot! But I'm not going to let this episode be completely self-serving - just a little...

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Intro...

Welcome to Special Episode #28 - The Investor's Realtor - Announcing Blue Chariot Realty & Working With Realtors

That's right, I'm announcing another service offering from Blue Chariot - that being Blue Chariot Realty! But before I go there, let's talk about working with Realtors to get your first (or more) Rental Properties.

And while its on my mind, let me go ahead and just speak on one of my pet-peeves - it's REAL-TOR not REAL-IT-TOR. Its REAL (R-E-A-L) TOR (TOR) - where people get the additional sylibles in that I don't know. It is not Relitor - already? Already, that out of the way, now...

Contrary to current appearances, there are still deals to be had on the MLS. But you've got to know how to work with Realtors to get them.

Here's a shocker... Realtors want to get paid for their work (you know of any profession that doesn't?) - and the quicker the better. So they don't want houses sitting on market for even days if they can avoid it, let only weeks or months. And not every house that Realtors list on the MLS is in that ideal condition that will allow it to be posted on Thursday, open house held on Saturday and multiple offers on the table by Sunday night for it to be contingent / under contract by Monday morning.

And so as an investor, the secret to your success is finding properties that have a problem (or two) that you can solve. You're not going to make any money on a pristine house that sells at full market / retail price. If it's nice, pretty and essentially move-in ready for that owner-occupant buyer - you're not going to get it at a discount, or any price near what will result in a cash-flow positive rental for you. That house has no problems - and as an Investor, you get paid for solving problems. And the more complex problems you can solve, the more money you stand to make.

Can you solve foundation issues? Can you fix fire damage? Can you get a house that's falling apart, gut it, and then put it back together? Are you scared away by mold, terminates or potential environmental issues, like an underground fuel tank? How are you at handing title issues? Un-permitted additions? Easements? Variances? Encroachments? Sub-dividing? I could go on and on listing potential house problems, and it would still be an incomplete list of all the many different things that can come up from one house to the next.

So are you equipped to be a resource for that Realtor who just listed a house with a problem? Again, Realtors (like everyone) want to be paid for their work - and the quicker the better. So you've got a Realtor with a problem house - and you specialize in fixing house problems... Seems like a match made in heaven - but does the Realtor know about you? Are you even on their radar?

Ok, not likely when you're just starting out or if you've not done anything yet targeted to that end, but you certainly want to start laying the ground work to change that.

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So there are many things you can do to start working with Realtors to obtain your first (or more) Rental Properties. But at risk of sounding ill-modest; wherever you live in the country, I suggest you start out by finding a Realtor LIKE ME!

No, I'm not referring to finding an extremely smart and good looking Realtor. I mean find a Realtor who is also an Investor / Landlord or even a Flipper. Why?

Yes, I know - you think that a Realtor who is also an Investor is never going to sell you a good deal, because if it was a good deal - they'd buy it themselves. Maybe... But that would assume this greedy Realtor is ready, willing and able to buy every good deal that comes their way. And my experience has been that you can't buy everything - so why not at least make some money on it by selling it to someone else who is ready to move on that property at that time.

If every so-called Investor was ready, willing and able to buy every good deal, then there would be no such thing as Wholesaling. You mean to tell me that there are no active Wholesalers in your market who also flip houses? There are no Wholesalers who also own a Rental Property of few? Of course there are active Wholesalers in every market who can't buy everything they come across. They might keep a deal for themselves here and there as able, but they offload far more for the cash. Well the same is true of Realtors who are also Investors / Landlords or Flippers. They may buy what they can here and there, but they represent the seller to get a commission on many, if not most.

But the reason you as an Investor want to work with a Realtor who is also an Investor - is that they get you. I don't know why, but despite having the keys to the candy store, most Realtors don't buy Real Estate and are certainly not investors. You'd be surprised just how many Realtors are renters - not even home owners. And for those who are, it is almost always just the home they live in - not an investment property. Sure, you have lots of investors who also happen to have their license, but Realtors who actively perform as Real Estate Agents and who also invests in Real Estate themselves... That is far too rare. I'm like a unicorn out here!

So most of the time we as Investors end up working with a Realtor who couldn't recognize a good investment property if their life depended on it. I see listings in the MLS all the time that say "Investor Alert" or "Attention Investors" - and then I see that its a duplex with 1 bedroom / 1 bath units rented for $500/mo each, with a tax value of $100,000 and they have it listed for $195,000. For those wondering... THAT'S NOT LIKELY TO BE A GOOD INVESTMENT! At least not as a straight minor rehab to rental.

Sure, there are plays where you can "pop the top" and go up or out to add square footage and more bedrooms - maybe an additional bath; or you knock it down and build new (essentially buying it for the land) - if it were ideally located in the path of progress with top dollar comps all around. But if you're not interested in anything that advanced or speculative, and you just want a property that you can rehab basically as-is to add another cash-flow positive rental to your portfolio - will the average Realtor know how to estimate rehab expenses? Will they know what rehab is needed to maximize the property value and rent? Will they know what a rehabbed version of the property is likely to rent for? Will they know anything about Rehab / Hard Money Lending; or the post rehab refinance into a conventional or commercial loan? And will they be able to equate any of this to a maximum allowable offer on the property to make it a good investment?

Maybe... But highly unlikely - unless the Realtor in question is also an investor (an experienced investor). One who owns rental property and has done rehabs to rentals of their own. A Realtor like me! But unless you live or seek to invest in the Raleigh / Durham (Triangle) area of North Carolina - regrettably, my excellence is not available to you - so you'll need to find a Realtor just like me - but in your market.

Did I mention how I'm the worlds most modest person? My skills and greatness as a Realtor is only exceeded by my modesty. But jokes aside... You need to find people that have those skills - as an Investor who's also a Realtor.

In fact, find several... Because each relationship you have with a Realtor who really gets investors (who IS an investor) - will be another pipe-line for deals. Sure, they might keep some for themselves; or every opportunity might not be just the right fit for your needs. But there will always be properties with problems (sometimes complex problems) for which the Realtor seeks a quick closing, even if not at the top price it might get weeks or months later. And there you are at the top of that Realtor's mind, known as a person who can solve complex Real Estate problems and who is able to close quickly. And you're known to be someone who always closes - not someone who throws out a ton of low-ball offers until something sticks and who then tries to renegotiate at the last minute on the few you do get under contract.

Your reputation will be critical when dealing with such Realtors. And none of this is to say that Realtors are not out there who are not Investors but who get you well enough that they can still work well with you. It's just more likely to be the case if they are Investors themselves - but make connections with as many Realtors as possible - and train them on what you're seeking. Make your criteria known and that you'll likely close quickly on anything meeting this criteria.

And despite being a Realtor myself, I let other Realtors know that if they bring me a deal, I'm happy to let them represent me as the buyer's agent, and so if they are also the listing agent - they can get paid TWICE. What's better to a Realtor than getting BOTH sides of the commission? And how much more are they going to like working with you knowing this? Having you in their back pocket is money - or as Randy Moss once said "Strait Cash Homey".

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So how do you start building relationships with Realtors - such that they'll think first of you (and give you the opportunity) when they get that next problem property on their hands? Well, there are several methods - and I'll touch briefly on some.

First, I make use of a CRM for Real Estate Investors at: RealeFlow.com (strangely spelled with an E, R-E-A-L-E-Flow.com). It's not cheap, and I wonder if I'll continue using it going forward, as I've also got two other CRM systems - but it has some great features specific to being an Investor and Rehabber that the other's don't have. One feature in particular is an automated follow-up campaign (an auto-responder) with pre-written content that can be easily customized - allowing you to quickly put 6 months or more of engaging emails in a Realtor's inbox on some regular schedule that may both keep them thinking of you and educate them as to why they should want to work with you.

I use this in conjunction with trying to schedule a meeting or call (not always successfully) with 2 or 3 Realtors per week - and then add them into this system to stay top of mind. I'm also working to get into some local agency offices to conduct training of Realtors on how to work with investors - just so happening to let them know (hey) I am one in the process. Think, you can teach Realtors how to estimate rehab expenses accurately - and to then send you those deals before posting to the MLS - that are now hopefully priced correctly accounting for the rehab needed.

Get your name out there... Lookup who the Realtor was on all the properties sold in your area over the last year - that you would have like to buy, and contact that Realtor. Schedule a call or have lunch (YOU buy) - and thereby let them know who you are and what you are seeking that's not unlike that house they sold at 123 Main Street last month. Let them know that the next time they come across anything like that, meeting this basic criteria (that you fully explain) - Hey, contact me, as I'm buying and can close quickly. You can represent me and get both sides of the commission. And then add them to your email auto-responder campaign - and set a reminder to touch base again by phone every few months or maybe even every few weeks! You absolutely CANNOT do this consistently for several months and NOT get a deal eventually. And it will be that snowball, that once it starts rolling, picks up size and speed and continues on to amazing things.

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OK, enough of that - now back to what's most important - ME! I'm officially announcing my Real Estate Agency - Blue Chariot Realty! Now hopefully you found that information on working with Realtors helpful, as like I said, I didn't want this episode to be completely self-serving and only be about my announcement. But in addition to speaking on working with Realtors, I also wanted to make sure that everyone (especially those here in the Triangle area of North Carolina) are aware that I'm also a Realtor.

My announcement is that I've now gotten Blue Chariot Realty established as a Licensed North Carolina Realty Agency - of which I'm the Licensed Broker-In-Charge (also referred to here as being the BIC). To be the BIC of an agency, you must be a full-time Real Estate Agent (full Broker) for at least 2 years (or something like 4,000 hours). There's a 12-hour course and application to become a BIC along with applying for a firm license.

Blue Chariot Realty now has its own firm license and I'm the Broker-in-Charge. Now there is also a ton that goes into setting up a Real Estate Agency, so further to that, I've joined eXp Realty - so it's Blue Chariot Realty, Brokered By eXp Realty. This allows me to hit the ground running with Blue Chariot Realty without having to re-invent the wheel of all the many thousands of things that go into creating a Realty Agency. I just adopt the eXp systems, policies, and procedures, benefit from their training and infrastructure - and then have direct access to all the other eXp agents - whether they be direct with eXp or quasi independent as I am with Blue Chariot Realty.

So if you're a Realtor anywhere in the country and want to learn more about eXp and joining yourself or your firm with eXP - let me know, as I'm happy to discuss. But for me, the best part of this is that I can now perform here as a Realtor in the Triangle area of North Carolina (Raleigh, Durham, Cary, Chapel Hill - and all the nearby cities within the Triangle MLS) - helping individuals buy and sell houses, while further growing the Blue Chariot Brand.

So for anyone lost as to what all Blue Chariot now does, let me recap. There's Blue Chariot, LLC (for short-term holds, flips, wholesaling - sometimes in partnership with others, so let me know if you want to partner with me on a deal).

There's Blue Chariot Properties (for long-term holds / rentals - some of which are held under various other entities or partnerships, themselves owned by Blue Chariot Properties, LLC).

Launched earlier this year, there's Blue Chariot Management (for Property Management of both my own and the Rental Properties of others - so let me know if you have a Rental here in the Triangle for which you need expert Property Management. The website for that is BlueChariot.Management).

There's Blue Chariot Media for this Podcast, Blogs, some book ideas I'm working on, and anything else I decide to get into in the Digital Media or Real Estate and Business Education space. I even seek to become a pubic speaker!

And now there's Blue Chariot Realty - my Triangle North Carolina Real Estate Agency to work with buyers and sellers of houses. So, if you know of anyone seeking to buy or sell a house here who could use the services of a good Realtor, please refer them to me.

Right now the website is BlueChariotRealty.com or jtsmith.exprealty.com - but we're working on a new version of BlueChariot.com to encompass everything that is Blue Chariot, and a heavy part of that focus will be Blue Chariot Realty, so when done, separate sites will no longer be required. Everything will be at BlueChariot.com - although the separate sites will still exist.

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I want to THANK YOU for listening to the [... and Landlord] Podcast. My content to date has been focused mostly on the Landlord aspect of the title, but please note that I named the show: Husband, Father, Entrepreneur, Realtor... and Landlord! Not just because I am all those other things, but also because I plan to be speaking about each of those aspects on some level from time to time on this show. And so today I wanted to touch a bit on my being a Realtor. Hopefully it wasn't completely self-serving, as I also want to provide value.

A Zig Zigler quote is that... "You can get everything in life you want if you will just help enough other people get what they want." - so in part, I'm doing this Podcast for that reason. To help other people get what they want, and I assume for you that is to get into and/or grow in Rental Real Estate Investing. But it goes beyond the Podcast.

Blue Chariot Realty has been established to help other people get what they want as it relates to those who have a house they seek to sell for best price; or those who want a deal on buying a house. So I'm training myself on negotiating and working with people to become as expert as possible to help others in this way. Checkout some of the books I've read in this regard at: andlandlord.com/books.

Blue Chariot Properties was created to buy distressed houses and rehab them into rentals. This helps the seller get what they want - out from under that property. It helps the neighborhood or community get what they want - which is rid of a blighted house and increased property values. It helps the eventual Tenant in that house get what they want - which is a great place to live. And when its a Section 8 Tenant, it also helps the Federal and Local Government get what they want - which is a family in a nice / stable home, avoiding or on the track out of poverty.

I could go on, but I think you get the picture - "You can get everything in life you want if you will just help enough other people get what they want." - and that's what I'm trying to do with Blue Chariot. The last several years of my life, since I got into Real Estate back in 2015 have been the most fulfilling of my life. I've helped a lot of people, both directly and indirectly - and the rewards have been tremendous.

Another quote, this one anonymous... “Someone once told me the definition of Hell: The last day you have on earth, the person you became will meet the person you could have become.” - what if I had been too scared to leap into Real Estate and never became this version of myself? I have a fear of public speaking, yet I started a Podcast and I'm planning on becoming a professional paid speaker. So don't let the person you are now stop you from becoming the person you could be - because that person is great. We all have greatness within us - go for it! Reach beyond what you think you can accomplish... I just purchased the house I've wanted for the last 20 years. I'll tell you more about it soon - but it would never have happened if I had not dared to reach far beyond my comfort level on multiple occasions. And I'll also tell you more about those soon.

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Outro...

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