Epic Real Estate Investing - EPREI 003 : Thee MOST Important Thing!

Episode Date: July 2, 2011

There are four stages to becoming a millionaire real estate investor, and if you can't conquer the most important thing... you don't have a chance. Your financial future is in serious jeopardy if you ignore thee MOST important thing! Get your free real estate investing course at http://FreeRealEstateInvestingCourse.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Epic Real Estate Investing Podcast, episode three. You're about to meet a man that can show you how he took control of his life and financial future and how you can do the same. He's never been on TV. He's not a millionaire, and he does not know Donald Trump. He is a full-time real estate investor, newly discovered author, and family man. He does not report to a boss. He creates his own schedule and takes his family on a few vacations every year.

He got started investing in real estate with almost no money in a really crummy credit score, and he's going to show you exactly how he did it and how he continues to do it. You will have to work. You will have to be responsible. However, laying by the beach sipping fruity drinks is a reasonable goal without further delay. without further delay. Your guru. Sorry. Your guide to a better life through real estate investing.

Matt Terrio. Hello and greetings from the Epic Real Estate Investing podcast, the podcast that will show you how to create wealth through conventional and creative real estate investing, so you'll have the option to realistically retire in the next 10 years or less and enjoy the good life while you're still young enough to do so. My name is Matt Terrio, author, full-time real estate investor and family man. If this is your first time listening to this show, you want to do two things. One, go back and listen to episode one to get the gist of what the show is about and why we're here.

Everything we discuss is going to make a whole lot more sense if you do that. And two, download the free real estate investing course, how to do deals, no money required, and you can get that for free at free real estate investing course.com. It's a step-by-step course of which I reveal everything that I do, everything that I say, everything that I use, including the documents and contracts, to invest in real estate using no money or credit, and that's yours for free at free real estate investing course.com. So, do you have your number? Are you ready to move at the speed of instruction?

Great. Now, before you get started investing, and I mean before you take that first step, you must know what you want. You must know your number and why you want it, why you want that number. It's the most important aspect to your investing. you must begin with the end in mind because if you don't, any road is going to get you there. Like that guy on the ING commercial that I mentioned last episode, let's just throw money at it and hope something good happens.

Don't do that. If you don't begin with the end in mind, any road is going to get you there. And speaking of roads, let's cover the specific roads you're going to travel to becoming a millionaire real estate investor. As I've mentioned vaguely before, the road to success consists of four stages,

and I want to cover them in a little more detail so you'll know what to expect and where you're headed from this point forward. First, you must think like a millionaire real estate investor. Second, you must buy a million dollars of real estate. Third, you must own a million dollars of real estate. And the fourth and final stage, you get to receive a million dollars from your real estate.

And when I say receive, I mean receive a million dollars from your real estate every year. Not just once, but every year. Now, we talked pretty extensively about passive income in our last episode and how passive income is going to produce the financial freedom that most of you are seeking, and it's going to produce it faster than socking away your money in a savings account.

And not only is financial freedom faster through passive income, it's a whole lot easier as well. So stage one. Think like a millionaire real estate investor. And what does that actually mean? I mean, if you've never invested in real estate before, you're likely going to have to drastically alter your thinking from how you currently think. How you think about this particular subject will be greatly determined by your upbringing. I mean, most of what we know about money we were taught by our parents in our environment as we were growing up.

and these money lessons that we learned growing up, they seem to stick with us more than any other, and for some reason, they're harder to break as well. And if you weren't raised with a positive money mindset, your financial future is actually in jeopardy, unless you're willing to change, unless you're willing to be open. Maybe all of what I'm going to share with you right now will apply, or maybe just some of it,

and if none of it applies, just being present to these distinctions will make a difference when we actually get to doing deals. Here's what I mean. If you have a natural tendency to pocket prices and think something along the lines of, I can't afford that, you're going to need to transform your thinking to how can I afford that. That's the type of shift in thinking that I'm talking about. If you're looking at an opportunity and you have a natural tendency to think, how much is this going to cost me? If that's your first impression, if that's your first thought, you'll need to transform your thinking to how much is this going to make me.

That's a very different mindset. And that's the type of shift in thinking that I'm talking about. I mean, those are two huge examples of how a millionaire real estate investor thinks as opposed to darn near everybody else in the world. I mean, additionally, you'll want to get used to making quick decisions and hesitate on second-guessing yourself as well. So not only do you have to think differently, you're going to have to think a little quicker. As a real estate investor, you're going to have to make important decisions and lots of them,

and if you plan to survive in this business, you're going to have to make them fast. And the one decision you're going to want to stay away from is indecision. Yes, not making a decision is also a decision. You know, General Colin Powell, he's one of the greatest. military leaders of our time, he once said, indecision has cost the American government, American businesses, and the American people, billions of dollars more than the wrong decision.

Meaning it's more expensive to not make a decision than it is then to make the wrong decision. And another great military leader, General George S. Patton said, the best thing you can do is to make the right decision. The next best thing is the wrong decision, and the worst thing you can do is to make no decision at all. When you're standing in a space of indecision,

a lot of people think they're standing still and they're waiting to make that decision. But life moves fast. And if you stand in one spot pondering a decision and you can't make a decision, you're not standing still. Life is moving so fast that you're essentially moving backwards. So you've got to get comfortable making quick decisions.

I mean, this line of thinking it couldn't be any more true in real estate investing. You've got to be open to all opportunities. You don't have to take them all. That's not what I'm saying. but it will be in your best interest to be open. And when looking at opportunities, you've got to place your focus on what you want

as opposed to what you don't want or what you're scared of. I mean, keep your focus on what you want and you will continue to move forward. Any other way of thinking is going to present a challenge for you. It's going to hold you back. You know, real estate investing, it's really simple. And actually, it can be very, very easy.

You just go out and find a deal, open escrow and close escrow, then go to the bank and deposit your check. And that's really simple. and it's actually very easy to do that. What makes real estate investing challenging? What makes real estate investing hard work? It's the six inches of real estate between your ears. That's what makes it difficult.

It's your thinking that will get in your way every single time. It's your thinking that led you to believe that you can't invest in real estate because you don't have any money or credit. It's your thinking that will lead you to believe that there's too much competition. It's your thinking that will lead you to believe there aren't enough deals.

It's your thinking that will lead you you to believe real estate is risky. It's your thinking that will lead you to eventually believe real estate doesn't work. It can't be done. It's your thinking that will stop you more than anything else. Those who say that it can't be done are constantly being passed up by those that are doing it. I go over thinking like a millionaire investor a lot. And so many of my students and clients are in such a rush to learn different ways of finding deals, how to get prospects to call me, how to negotiate the best terms, how to force appreciation on property, how to do you. double escrows, how to do short sales, how to fix and flip, how to invest a multifamily,

how to do tax deeds, how to do lease options, just get to the meat, they say. I want you to know, the thinking like a millionaire real estate investor is the meat. It's the meat because it is what will stop you every time. And once you get control of your thinking, I mean, the sky is the limit. The rest is easy. You can learn everything else relatively quickly. Besides, most of my students already know how to do so much. and you listening to me probably do as well.

You already know how to do. It's doing what you know where most people fall short, and most people fail to do what they know because they doubt it will work. And that's how most fail. Doing what they know is tied directly to their thinking, or lack thereof. If you can't get this first step down,

think like a millionaire investor, you will fail at the other three steps. I promise you that. You know, there's an old fable that you may be familiar with, and it's so applicable to what I'm discussing with you. It was once announced that the devil he was going out of business and would offer all of his tools for sale

to whoever would pay his price. And on the night of the sale, they were all attractively displayed and laid out, and a bad-looking lot they were, malice, hatred, envy, jealousy, sensuality and deceit, and all the other implements of evil were spread out, each marked with its price.

Apart from the rest, off to the side, lay a harmless-looking little tool. It looked like it was all worn out, but it was still priced higher than any of them. Someone asked the devil, what is that? The devil replied, that's the tool of doubt. Well, why do you have it priced so high? Because, replied the devil, it is more useful to me than any of the others. I can pry open and get inside a man's consciousness with that

when I could not get near him with any of the others. And when once inside, I can use him in whatever way suits me best. It is so much worn because I use it with nearly everybody, because very few people yet even know that it belongs to me. It hardly need be added that the devil's price for his tools, especially doubt, were so high that they were never sold. He still owns them all, by the way, including his favorite, the tool of doubt,

and he's still using it today. Now, the truth of the fable is that you should never underestimate or undervalue the powerful influence of doubt and keeping you from becoming your very best. The only limit of your realization of tomorrow will be your doubts of today. Doubt is a dream killer. It starts out small and it appears rational, and that is the insidious nature of doubt, or you're thinking. It appears to be a friend with your best interest at heart. It uses fear as its companion with claims that it only wants to protect you and it wants to keep you safe and wants to keep you safe from failure and change. Doubt speaks to your weaknesses, and it desires to educate you on how to build up strong weaknesses. Doubt, it never plays up to your strengths while seeking to keep you in the safe zone at all times. Your doubt, it will make a case of your past and your present failures as the basis for why you cannot change or should not change.

The good news is that doubt is just simple conditioning. And that conditioning comes the fastest, at least in my experience, that conditioning comes the fastest from, one, surrounding yourself with like-minded people, your environment will condition your thinking the fastest. And what you'll want to beware of, that goes for disempowering thinking as well. Small thinking, negative thinking. So surround yourself with people. at the very least, interact regularly with people that think like millionaire real estate investors.

And how will you know who they are? How will you identify them? Well, look at people's results. Our outer world and inner world have an uncanny way of matching up. Those that have the results you want are great people for which to foster your professional and even personal relationships.

So first, change your environment, and second, consume personal development material. Or in layman's terms, but I hate this expression. self-help material. I mean, it almost implies something is wrong with you. There's nothing wrong with you, by the way. I prefer personal development. But anyway, consume personal development material, whether that's through books, audios, seminars, or home study courses. The book, Think and Grow Rich, that's a great place to start. Time-honored classic. One of many lessons I learned from this book that serves me in almost every real estate deal I do is that poor people, they make

decisions slowly and they change their minds quickly. Rich people, however, make decisions quickly and change their minds slowly. Now, Napoleon Hill, he wasn't speaking specifically about real estate investors when he mentioned this, but I've come to know it's been an invaluable way of thinking as a real estate investor. Ogmandino's, the greatest salesman in the world. That's another great book. It's a short, quick read, but it's very profound. And an online course with Bob Proctor I recently completed, it's probably the best resource I've come across to condition yourself for riches. And that can be found at think and get success.com. Think and get success.com.

That was a great course. So those are a few of my favorites. And as you explore the world of personal development, if you haven't already, you'll come across your own favorites. But the point here is, invest in your thinking as much as you invest in anything else, including your real estate. Invest in your personal development. It's that important.

A mentor of mine, he once shared with me that your income will never surpass your personal development. Commit to your personal development. Ritting yourself of doubt and transforming your thinking to that of a millionaire real estate investor is merely just a matter of conditioning. So make a commitment to that conditioning. Now, if you want to use doubt to your advantage, rather than doubting you will succeed, doubt that you will fail. Okay, stage two of our four stages, and I'll go through these quickly because stage one, think like a millionaire real estate investor. That's the tough one.

If you conquer that, the other three stages, they're a breeze. So stage two, buy a million dollars of real estate. Obviously, if you're going to get to a place where you're receiving a million dollars of annual cash flow from your real estate, you're going to have to buy the real estate first, right? And there are countless ways to acquire real estate, and we'll be covering many different ways on this show. But keep this in mind, you will have to buy real estate, no-brainer, right? But buying real estate doesn't always mean exchanging money for it. And that's a clue. That's a hint of what's to come, and we'll get to that.

Stage three, own a million dollars of real estate. This is its own stage because there's a big difference between being on title to real estate valued at a million dollars and actually owning a million dollars of real estate. Converting your ownership to actual equity. Converting it to an equity position of $1 million. That's the focus of this stage. How to make that transition. Now, stage four, receive a million dollars of annual income from your real estate. That's the fun part.

This is the ultimate goal. This is where the fun happens. This is where life gets real good. is where sipping the fruity drinks on the beach comes in. But you see, there's a lot of work to do to get to this stage. And unfortunately, shamefully, actually, billions of dollars have been made on books, audio programs, and seminars trying to convince you that this business is easy, that this is where you begin a sipping the fruity drinks. They sell you the island paradise, the fancy cars, and the world travel. They sell you all that first. They're lying to you.

Because they know if they told you what it really takes to create that type of lifestyle, you probably wouldn't be so quick to buy their books and programs. And I'll probably lose some business by disclosing this, maybe some listeners even, and I might even make some enemies amongst my professional counterparts, but you know what, I really don't care. Without integrity, nothing works. And that includes real estate. That includes teaching and mentoring.

And that includes podcasts. So I really don't care. You're not going to find the sales of any false hopes and dreams here. To be successful in real estate investing, you're going to have to commit to ongoing education. That will never end, by the way. And you will have to develop skills based off. of what you learn. And yes, you will have to do the work. And trust me on this one, you will experience every emotion of which a human being is capable of experiencing. There's no way around

that. There is no easy button in real estate investing. Don't fall for them. I mean, I don't care how great something sounds, how much sense it makes. If it sounds just too easy, if it looks so easy a caveman can do it, be very, very cautious. Be extremely cautious. The snakes in this business, they're waiting for you. They've built systems. In fact, they've perfected systems to separate you from your money based off of making this business look easy. I mean, if financial freedom was easy, everybody would be financially free, wouldn't they? I mean, our society would just be replete and full of financially free people jumping around, dancing, and having a blast. The fact that only 1% of our population makes it to financial freedom, that's indisputable evidence that it ain't easy.

So you will have to work. But if you push through and do the work, at the end, you will do the work. At the end, you will look back as you're sitting on the beach sipping that fruity drink, living the life and enjoying all of life's luxuries. You will undoubtedly agree with me that it was all worth it. It was worth every bit of it. Not only will it be worth the money you've made, it will be worth who you've been able to help along the way,

and even more so, it will be worth who you've become along the way. As I've mentioned, and I'll continue to mention it, because I don't want you to forget it. If you take this seriously and do for the next two years what most people won't do, you'll be able to do for the rest of your life what most people can't do. Real estate investing, it ain't easy, but it is the easiest path to financial freedom. There's a great book by Ken Fisher that you might want to pick up, particularly if you disagree with me on real estate investing being the easiest path to financial freedom.

Fisher's book, The Ten Roads to Riches. It takes an engaging and very informative look at some of America's most famous, infamous modern-day millionaires and billionaires. And Fisher reveals how they found their fortunes. Surprisingly, the super wealthy usually get there by taking just one of ten possible roads. And whether it's starting a business, owning real estate, investing wisely, or marrying well, Fisher shows how some got it right and others got it horribly wrong. Let's get back to the subject, though.

The only two reasons you'd want to get involved in real estate investing, the only two things you would want is either one. you're seeking financial freedom and or two, you're passionate about real estate and you want to pursue your passion. If we were sitting in the same room right now, we might be able to narrow in more specifically on what you want, but generally speaking, it's one of the two. You're seeking financial freedom or real estate is your passion. Now that we've established that, we must now establish why you want it. We know what you want.

Now we have to establish why you want it. The why, that's going to be the most important part of your real estate investing business. It's going to hold everything together. It's going to support your millionaire real estate investor thinking. It's going to keep you in the game. And here's why. It's one thing to stand up and turn off this podcast and declare that, I want to be a millionaire real estate investor.

But it's another thing entirely to get up every day and do what it takes to become one. You can make that decision today. You can feel all pumped after this podcast and say, I'm going to do this. But it's not just the decision today that's going to do it. you've got to make that decision every single day. You know, if all it took to become successful was to get up and go to work on the days you felt like it, getting rich would be a snap.

I mean, we'd all be successful. You're going to have to get up and go to work on the days you don't feel like it too. In fact, that's where the difference will actually be made. That's what will separate you from all of the others. It's what will separate you from the observers, the excuse makers, and the quitters. Listen, everyone needs real estate,

and anyone can do this. but not everyone will. And the cold, hard truth is most people won't. And in order for you, or anyone for that matter, to push through the times and do what it takes on a daily basis, you'll have to be firmly in touch with your why. If you're not, you won't last, I promise. So let's establish why you want to invest in real estate.

Here's a four-step shortcut formula to getting to your why. Do this with me right now. I mean, if you're in a position to write this down, you'll want to. If not, come back to this. It really is that important. But if you don't come back to the actual recording, I made it pretty easy so you should be able to remember and do it without the recording.

Okay, so here's a four-step shortcut formula to getting to your why. First, as we've already done, but you can clarify for yourself. You can clarify for your own individual situation, if you'd like. Establish what you want. And for the purpose of this exercise,

I'm going to assume financial freedom. If you want something else out of this, replace financial freedom with what you want, and just follow along. It'll still work. So financial freedom, that's what you want. Second, ask yourself. at least three times as to why you want financial freedom.

And I might look something like this. I want to be financially free. Well, why? Because I want to spend more time with my family. Okay, why? Because I have fun when I do. Okay, why? Because I laugh a lot and I get a great deal of enjoyment

out of watching my kids grow and learn new things. And if you can keep going, keep going. But ask yourself why at least three times. And after you have, the third step is to ask yourself, how will that make me feel? How will that make me feel if I get to spend more time with my family laughing and watching my kids grow? Answer that as thoroughly as you can and as honestly as you can. I mean, it would feel awesome.

It would feel invigorating. It would be fulfilling. It would be rewarding. It would feel amazing to give my kids the time my parents were never able to give me. Whatever it may be for you, it's going to be different for each and every one of you. But whatever it is, it's going to be a great feeling. Or else you probably wouldn't even be here listening to my voice right. right now. Now here's the kicker. Step four, ask yourself, how will it make me feel if I can't

spend more time with my family? I mean, this exercise, if you take it seriously, it's going to create natural leverage on yourself. If you stay in touch with the emotions and the feelings financial freedom will give you, you will persevere. You see, none of us really want cash. None of us really want real estate. None of us even really want financial freedom. What we really want is the feeling cash, real estate, and ultimately financial freedom is going to give us. so get clear as to why you're doing this. And oftentimes, we're more deeply motivated by the fear of not getting it than we are getting it.

That's why step four, how will it make me feel if I can't spend more time with my family? Be really clear as to why you're doing this, but never forget the alternative. Remember, you've made a commitment to move at the speed of instruction. If you haven't done so already, figure out the monthly passive income number you'll need to be financially free, establish why you want it, and begin to condition your

thinking by working on your environment, specifically the people you spend the most time with, and begin working on your personal development. Your income will never surpass your personal development. Do that, and I'll see you next episode where I'll show you how to guarantee your success. No doubt there, right? So, until next time, and as a very wise man once said, drag your thoughts away from your troubles, by the ears, by the heels, or any other way you can manage it. For a man is but the product of his thoughts, what he thinks he becomes. To your success, I'm Matt Terrio, living the dream. Thank you for spending this time with Matt Terrio and the epic real estate investing podcast. When you have a moment, stop by iTunes to leave your comments and let us

know what you think of the show. And if you haven't done so already, get started investing today by visiting free real estate investing course.com to access Matt's free course, how to do deals, no money required. Until next time, to your success. This podcast is a part of the C-suite radio network. For more top business podcasts, visit c-sweetradio.com.