Focusing on the Facts

Mike: Welcome back to the flipnerd.com REI Classroom where experts from across the real estate investing industry teach you quick lessons to take your business to the next level. And now let’s meet today’s expert host.

Joe: Hi, my name is Joe Calloway with reinvestorprofessor.com and RE360 Real Estate. We’re in the REI Classroom today, and today we’re going to be talking about focusing on the facts, how to not get discouraged in the cloudy world of real estate investing.

Mike: This is REI Classroom real estate lesson is sponsored by uglyopportunities.com.

Joe: In real estate, everyone seems to be a millionaire. There’s a lot of great videos out there that you can Google and see on YouTube, but sometimes they can be discouraging because everyone seems to be making millions in real estate investing. But the reality of it is, is people do make millions in real estate investing, but sometimes it takes some time.
When you’re watching videos, you have to focus on the facts, and here are a few facts for you. One, the top 1% of America makes $400,000 or more, so with everyone saying they’re a real estate millionaire and everyone driving Ferraris, usually they’re rented, this is something you have to recognize. If $400,000 is the top 1%, if you’re in the top 5%, you’re making around $100,000 to a little bit over $100,000 a year, and that is a phenomenal living. You should be very proud of yourself.
So if you’re coming out of something where you’re maybe working a job where you’re making $25,000 to $35,000 a year and you’re looking to better your life and get into real estate, I want you to look at these facts. And on your first deal, if you’re only making $10,000 on a flip or $2,000 on a wholesale, you’re well on your way and I guarantee you you’re outperforming most of your peers in the real estate industry. I don’t want people to get discouraged by not focusing on incremental changes that make their life better.
One of my goals, when I started out 10 years ago, was to increase my net worth and what I make each and every year. And that didn’t go from nothing to $1 million, but sometimes it went I did a deal and made $2,000 and then I made $3,000. And all along this way, I’m learning through the best educational resource, is by doing. I’m learning and getting better and incrementally increasing what I do and making more and more money.
The fact is, when I was about two years into RE360, I made zippo, zilch, nada dollars. That’s not a very flattering number, but I kept focus on being the best in the city of Pittsburgh at buying, rehabbing, and renting residential and small multi-family houses. And then next year, I saw a big change, and then the following year, I saw a huge change. And now that I’m seven years into investing at RE360 Real Estate, we’re the biggest and best residential investing company in the city of Pittsburg, and we’re doing great from a financial standpoint. But that 1% does not come overnight. It take times. It take energy.
So when you see someone driving a Ferrari or you’re having a beer with a buddy and he’s saying how he’s lighting the world on fire and you’re thinking, “Well, I’m sitting here in the trenches gutting houses and my fingernails are dirty,” the real story is you’re probably on the fast track to success while these other people are just talking about success. So never get discouraged by other stories. Only focus on your results. Thank you, and I’ll see you on the next episode.

Mike: HomeVestors, the We Buy Ugly Houses folks, is a franchised system of hundreds of real estate investors that have purchased over 65,000 houses. If you’d like to learn more about the most powerful real estate investing system in existence, whether you’re a pro looking to take your business to the next level or whether you have no experience at all but a burning passion to be successful at real estate investing, please visit flipnerd.com/ugly to learn more.
Please note, the views and opinions expressed by the individuals in this program do not necessarily reflect those of flipnerd.com or any of its partners, advertisers, or affiliates. Please consult professionals before making any investment or tax decisions, as real estate investing can be risky.
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