The last thing we want to talk about in investor dilemma is partnerships.
The reason I bring up partnerships is this: Many people start investing in
real estate and they say, “You know what? I’m going to form a partnership
because I need some help.”
When you get into real estate, you are going to have many different types
of partnerships. Some projects are simply too big to handle alone, and that
is when you need to bring in additional staff and resources. Partnerships in
and of themselves are not good or bad. Let me explain. At least once a
week someone comes to my office looking for advice to form a
partnership. It may be a partnership between a father and a son. I often ask
why they are forming a partnership. A typical answer is, “Well, I want to
help my son out. I want to help him become successful.” Okay, fantastic!
But are you successful? Well if the father is not successful, it’s probably
not a smart partnership.
Many people form partnerships on the simple grounds of “Hey, this is my
buddy, and I would love to see him be successful with me.” The number
one thing you have to remember with partnerships is this: never drag
someone along with you. A partner is either going to walk side-by-side
with you or he/she shouldn’t come on the journey... period! Partners
shouldn’t ride on your back; they shouldn’t be dragged along. They
shouldn’t be part of the ride unless they are contributing side-by-side with
you. That’s difficult to understand when you are looking at partnerships,
especially when you bring in family. And you hear of this all the time; but
when it happens, partnerships fail.
Working with family is rarely a good thing. Everyone starts out with good
intentions. “Oh, we want to help out. We want to help our little brother
Johnny become responsible and to grow up a little bit.” That is theabsolutely worst reason to form a partnership. When you are searching for
a partner, you need someone who compliments your strengths and fills in
your weaknesses.
My current partnerships are based on competency. I have a partner by the
name of Trond. He fills in my weaknesses and compliments my strengths.
I do the same for him. I have another partner, Frantz. He is extremely
organized and proactive. Nothing can stop the guy... he is absolutely
dependable.
My partnerships have been fantastic; everybody contributes. They have all
been part of a fair partnership from the beginning. Understanding
partnerships is critical to you and your partner’s success. The only reason
why I bring up partnerships regarding investor dilemma is because in real
estate partnerships come into play all the time.
If you are going to form a partnership, be honest with yourself. Ask
yourself, “Is this person really going to help or am I dragging him/her
along?” What does each partner bring to the table? This is where you need
to look at the strengths and weaknesses of each partner and see if they
compliment each other. Also, remember the partnership needs to add
value, just like everything else in investing. In certain types of real estate
investing, like when working in large volume, you will need a partnership
to get off the ground.
Monday we will talk about what happens for when you have a bad partnership?
Friday, January 23, 2009
Thursday, January 22, 2009
INFLUENCES AND ATTITUDE, con't
Let me give you one more example... another example using my father-inlaw.
He is a very good person; in fact we get along fantastically. Back in
those early days he was just a father and was cautious; he did not want us
to get hurt. When I first married, I told my wife, “I want to invest in real
estate. I want to do this.” My wife is fantastic; she supports me and is
definitely not the negative influence that is so often prevalent. She said,
“That’s great.” Again, she comes from a traditional family, so she stated,
“You know what? My father would love it if you would take him along.
He knows a lot about construction and different things.” I said, “Great! I’ll
take him along.”
Well, I started bringing him along to the potential properties, and he would
talk me out of every one. I finally realized what he was doing and I went
to my wife. I said, “Honey, I’m sorry, but I cannot involve your father in
this anymore.” She said, “Why?” My response: “Well, he’s talking us out
of every single investment. I cannot do it.” She said, “Okay, fine.” So, we
found a deal by ourselves.
About a week before I was going to close on the deal, I said to my fatherin-
law, “We are going to buy this property.” He said, “Oh, really?” I said,
“Yes, we are closing in a week.” Then he went silent. I asked him if he
would like to see it and he said that he would. He looked at the property
and went through it, not saying too much. He knew my mind was made up
and that I would do it, regardless.
We put together a deal and purchased the property. It was fantastic. I made
$40,000 the first year-and-a-half with no money down. When I was
working at the bank making $9 an hour, I barely had any credit and
struggled to make a $65/month ring payment. We bought that property and
made $40,000 in 18 months. It was fantastic! Now the tables are turned.
My father-in-law is all about being positive. Why? Because he saw a
success story and that’s important. Had I listened to the outside influences
and negativity, I would not be here today. I would not have made millions
of dollars in real estate, nor would I be facing a multi-million dollar future.
I remember my own father. Why did he work six days a week, drive
exhausted, and sleep in his car to see his children? What motivated him?
The love that he had for us was greater than anything else he wanted in his
life. If you can find that core motivation, you can drown out the outside
influences and move forward.
He is a very good person; in fact we get along fantastically. Back in
those early days he was just a father and was cautious; he did not want us
to get hurt. When I first married, I told my wife, “I want to invest in real
estate. I want to do this.” My wife is fantastic; she supports me and is
definitely not the negative influence that is so often prevalent. She said,
“That’s great.” Again, she comes from a traditional family, so she stated,
“You know what? My father would love it if you would take him along.
He knows a lot about construction and different things.” I said, “Great! I’ll
take him along.”
Well, I started bringing him along to the potential properties, and he would
talk me out of every one. I finally realized what he was doing and I went
to my wife. I said, “Honey, I’m sorry, but I cannot involve your father in
this anymore.” She said, “Why?” My response: “Well, he’s talking us out
of every single investment. I cannot do it.” She said, “Okay, fine.” So, we
found a deal by ourselves.
About a week before I was going to close on the deal, I said to my fatherin-
law, “We are going to buy this property.” He said, “Oh, really?” I said,
“Yes, we are closing in a week.” Then he went silent. I asked him if he
would like to see it and he said that he would. He looked at the property
and went through it, not saying too much. He knew my mind was made up
and that I would do it, regardless.
We put together a deal and purchased the property. It was fantastic. I made
$40,000 the first year-and-a-half with no money down. When I was
working at the bank making $9 an hour, I barely had any credit and
struggled to make a $65/month ring payment. We bought that property and
made $40,000 in 18 months. It was fantastic! Now the tables are turned.
My father-in-law is all about being positive. Why? Because he saw a
success story and that’s important. Had I listened to the outside influences
and negativity, I would not be here today. I would not have made millions
of dollars in real estate, nor would I be facing a multi-million dollar future.
I remember my own father. Why did he work six days a week, drive
exhausted, and sleep in his car to see his children? What motivated him?
The love that he had for us was greater than anything else he wanted in his
life. If you can find that core motivation, you can drown out the outside
influences and move forward.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
OUTSIDE INFLUENCES AND A POSITIVE ATTITUDE
The biggest problem with investor dilemma is the outside influence. What
do I mean by outside influence? I own a real estate brokerage with about
200 agents, making it a rather large firm. I had one of my real estate agents
come into my office (he seemed to be negative by nature). He sat down
and here’s how our conversation went:
He said, “I want to be successful in real estate.” I said, “Great! You can be
successful in real estate.” He said, “Will you teach me?” I said, “Sure! I’ll
teach you how to do it. I’ll teach you how to make a lot of money and turn
real estate into your career.”
This is what I told him he needed to do: Any time people ever talk about
anything in their lives, be happy for them. Tell them:
• That’s fantastic.
• I’m so glad you are doing that.
• I’m so glad you are going to go do that.
• You want to buy a house... great!
• That’s awesome... the best thing to do.
• Good for you!
• You want to invest in real estate? Awesome!
Be positive! I told him, “People need positive energy and they need
positive people around them.”
We get bombarded daily by negative people and negative things constantly
telling us, “You can’t do it! You are not good enough!” Even now, they
may be saying, “Why did you buy that program? I cannot believe you
wasted that kind of money and bought that program! Unbelievable! You
are not going to do anything with it!” You may have already heard it.
I told my agent, “If you can change that... if you can be the positive one,
that alone will bring you success in real estate.”
You can guess the outcome!
The man in question changed his attitude. He was happier all the time. He
would tell people, “Yes! That is great!” After about a month he started
getting business. Soon after, he came into my office and said, “Aaron, this
is fantastic!” I said, “Great! What happened?” His joyous response was,
“You were absolutely right! I’m positive. I started telling people they are
doing great and they refer business to me. Or they contact me directly to
do business with me. Or they wish they would have done business with
me. Now I’m busy and I’m making good money.”
It was all because he was positive... and he was not in a great situation at
the time, either. He was strapped financially and was living paycheck to
paycheck. He was doing real estate part time to make a change, so he
didn’t have a lot of hope for success. However, by changing his attitude
and not allowing the outside pressures to influence him, he became
successful, drawing only successful people to do business with him. Oh,
and by the way, he did not ask one single person for business, yet he
became highly successful.
I tell people that investor dilemma is any outside negative influence. You
need to push that away; you need to push it aside; you need to move
forward and do what you want no matter what. Despite what people tell you, despite the objections, despite the negativity you will encounter, you
can do it.
do I mean by outside influence? I own a real estate brokerage with about
200 agents, making it a rather large firm. I had one of my real estate agents
come into my office (he seemed to be negative by nature). He sat down
and here’s how our conversation went:
He said, “I want to be successful in real estate.” I said, “Great! You can be
successful in real estate.” He said, “Will you teach me?” I said, “Sure! I’ll
teach you how to do it. I’ll teach you how to make a lot of money and turn
real estate into your career.”
This is what I told him he needed to do: Any time people ever talk about
anything in their lives, be happy for them. Tell them:
• That’s fantastic.
• I’m so glad you are doing that.
• I’m so glad you are going to go do that.
• You want to buy a house... great!
• That’s awesome... the best thing to do.
• Good for you!
• You want to invest in real estate? Awesome!
Be positive! I told him, “People need positive energy and they need
positive people around them.”
We get bombarded daily by negative people and negative things constantly
telling us, “You can’t do it! You are not good enough!” Even now, they
may be saying, “Why did you buy that program? I cannot believe you
wasted that kind of money and bought that program! Unbelievable! You
are not going to do anything with it!” You may have already heard it.
I told my agent, “If you can change that... if you can be the positive one,
that alone will bring you success in real estate.”
You can guess the outcome!
The man in question changed his attitude. He was happier all the time. He
would tell people, “Yes! That is great!” After about a month he started
getting business. Soon after, he came into my office and said, “Aaron, this
is fantastic!” I said, “Great! What happened?” His joyous response was,
“You were absolutely right! I’m positive. I started telling people they are
doing great and they refer business to me. Or they contact me directly to
do business with me. Or they wish they would have done business with
me. Now I’m busy and I’m making good money.”
It was all because he was positive... and he was not in a great situation at
the time, either. He was strapped financially and was living paycheck to
paycheck. He was doing real estate part time to make a change, so he
didn’t have a lot of hope for success. However, by changing his attitude
and not allowing the outside pressures to influence him, he became
successful, drawing only successful people to do business with him. Oh,
and by the way, he did not ask one single person for business, yet he
became highly successful.
I tell people that investor dilemma is any outside negative influence. You
need to push that away; you need to push it aside; you need to move
forward and do what you want no matter what. Despite what people tell you, despite the objections, despite the negativity you will encounter, you
can do it.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
BE REALISTIC
When you write things down, you also need to understand some of your
personality strengths and weaknesses. For example:
• Are you realistic?
• Do you undershoot all the time?
• Do you overshoot?
• Do you always hit the target?
I learned these principles young in life. I was a senior in high school and I
had this good friend with whom I was in wrestling. We had about the same
skill set throughout our entire (but short) wrestling careers. I remember our
first year, in which my goal was to be a varsity wrestler. I wanted to be the
varsity guy, but it was unrealistic. I did not have the skills to beat the
varsity guy in only one year’s time because he was so much better than me.
I ended up being junior varsity (JV). My friend’s goal was to be JV and
that’s what he was; he reached his goal. In my sophomore year, my goal
was to take state. My friend’s goal was to go to state; that’s all he wanted.
Yep, you guessed it; I did not take state. I did well, but I did not accomplish
my goal. I never had that feeling of accomplishment. However, my
friend’s goal was to go to state, and when he got to state, he’d
accomplished his goal. The sky was the limit at that point. He continued to
move forward and he placed.
During my junior year, my goal, again, was to take state. My friend’s goal
was to place in state. Like the year before, I placed in state, but did not take
state. My friend actually took state. Because he had previously placed, he
only had to win two matches. Once he had placed, the sky was the limit.
Boom! He took it.
My senior-year goal was to take state. That was the only year it was a
realistic possibility for me. The problem was I’d developed such a pattern
of never accomplishing my goals, that actually accomplishing a realistic
goal was very difficult, and I did not do it. However I did place; they
actually ranked me Number One. I was the shoo-in that year. I beat
everybody, yet I still lost. My friend’s goal was to take state, and with his
pattern of always accomplishing his goal, he was certain. “I am taking
state. This is my year to say ‘Yes, I am the champion. I'm taking it.’” And
yes, he took it.
He had been realistic, not downplaying himself, but realistic about what he
could accomplish. Thus, he had that feeling of accomplishment when he reached his goals and objectives. I, on the other hand, was unrealistic from
the beginning. Then when I had my chance, I didn’t believe it. I didn’t
believe I could do it and I fell short.
Anytime you face a decision, you need to treat it like we’ve taught you to
treat risk. The decision can be managed, but let’s be realistic: if you are
coming off making $20,000 a year, establishing a goal to make $500,000
the next year is unrealistic. Investor dilemma comes with a realistic choice.
personality strengths and weaknesses. For example:
• Are you realistic?
• Do you undershoot all the time?
• Do you overshoot?
• Do you always hit the target?
I learned these principles young in life. I was a senior in high school and I
had this good friend with whom I was in wrestling. We had about the same
skill set throughout our entire (but short) wrestling careers. I remember our
first year, in which my goal was to be a varsity wrestler. I wanted to be the
varsity guy, but it was unrealistic. I did not have the skills to beat the
varsity guy in only one year’s time because he was so much better than me.
I ended up being junior varsity (JV). My friend’s goal was to be JV and
that’s what he was; he reached his goal. In my sophomore year, my goal
was to take state. My friend’s goal was to go to state; that’s all he wanted.
Yep, you guessed it; I did not take state. I did well, but I did not accomplish
my goal. I never had that feeling of accomplishment. However, my
friend’s goal was to go to state, and when he got to state, he’d
accomplished his goal. The sky was the limit at that point. He continued to
move forward and he placed.
During my junior year, my goal, again, was to take state. My friend’s goal
was to place in state. Like the year before, I placed in state, but did not take
state. My friend actually took state. Because he had previously placed, he
only had to win two matches. Once he had placed, the sky was the limit.
Boom! He took it.
My senior-year goal was to take state. That was the only year it was a
realistic possibility for me. The problem was I’d developed such a pattern
of never accomplishing my goals, that actually accomplishing a realistic
goal was very difficult, and I did not do it. However I did place; they
actually ranked me Number One. I was the shoo-in that year. I beat
everybody, yet I still lost. My friend’s goal was to take state, and with his
pattern of always accomplishing his goal, he was certain. “I am taking
state. This is my year to say ‘Yes, I am the champion. I'm taking it.’” And
yes, he took it.
He had been realistic, not downplaying himself, but realistic about what he
could accomplish. Thus, he had that feeling of accomplishment when he reached his goals and objectives. I, on the other hand, was unrealistic from
the beginning. Then when I had my chance, I didn’t believe it. I didn’t
believe I could do it and I fell short.
Anytime you face a decision, you need to treat it like we’ve taught you to
treat risk. The decision can be managed, but let’s be realistic: if you are
coming off making $20,000 a year, establishing a goal to make $500,000
the next year is unrealistic. Investor dilemma comes with a realistic choice.
Monday, January 19, 2009
Investor Dilemma
Let’s look at what is called “investor dilemma”. Now that we understand
risk and we are going to move forward regardless, we need to define and
deal with dilemma. Go ahead; write it in the notes on the side of this page.
This wraps up everything we have talked about; investor dilemma is all
about choice.
What do I mean by choice? You make all kinds of different choices every
day, including the choice to get into real estate investing. You can invest
your money this way or that way. We live in the information age and are
bombarded with decisions daily. This includes ways to spend our time, our
resources, and our money.
Now that’s a dilemma!
We are showing you how to say “Look, this is what I’m going to do; I’m
moving forward,” much like when I asked my father-in-law for permission
to marry his daughter. He gave me all kinds of different choices, which,
frankly, I did not want. We had set our goal; we were going to reach it and
we were going to move forward.
How do we manage the different demands on our time? How do we
manage all this information... all the outside influences? You make a goal
and write it down!
It’s imperative that you write down what you’re going to do. Write down
your goals; write down what your core motivation is. I know it’s private,
and that’s okay; this is your book. No one else will read it, so write it
down. Why? Because it solidifies it in your mind. It becomes truth. By
writing down that you will do this and why, you are more apt to do it. Just
be sure to be sincere about it, and it’s proven you will make it happen.
risk and we are going to move forward regardless, we need to define and
deal with dilemma. Go ahead; write it in the notes on the side of this page.
This wraps up everything we have talked about; investor dilemma is all
about choice.
What do I mean by choice? You make all kinds of different choices every
day, including the choice to get into real estate investing. You can invest
your money this way or that way. We live in the information age and are
bombarded with decisions daily. This includes ways to spend our time, our
resources, and our money.
Now that’s a dilemma!
We are showing you how to say “Look, this is what I’m going to do; I’m
moving forward,” much like when I asked my father-in-law for permission
to marry his daughter. He gave me all kinds of different choices, which,
frankly, I did not want. We had set our goal; we were going to reach it and
we were going to move forward.
How do we manage the different demands on our time? How do we
manage all this information... all the outside influences? You make a goal
and write it down!
It’s imperative that you write down what you’re going to do. Write down
your goals; write down what your core motivation is. I know it’s private,
and that’s okay; this is your book. No one else will read it, so write it
down. Why? Because it solidifies it in your mind. It becomes truth. By
writing down that you will do this and why, you are more apt to do it. Just
be sure to be sincere about it, and it’s proven you will make it happen.
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