Category: <![CDATA[Podcast]]>

What happens when you’re pinned to the floor in the middle of a fight? Someone has you in a locked position and you can’t move. You’re sweating, you’re angry, and you start feeling the will to fight flow through your whole body. Although we’re talking about Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu with the legendary trainer and black belt, Ryron Gracie, we could easily be talking about real estate.

So many new real estate investors come into this space being scared of discomfort, wanting to be hand-held, and feeling like there is no way to hit their investing goals. That is until they’re put in the proper position, scenario, or matched up with a great teacher. These are the exact lessons that Ryron shares with us today.

As a lifelong Jiu-Jitsu practitioner, and now a teacher himself, Ryron knows that the same lessons applied on the mat should be applied in everyday life. Lessons like: be comfortable with discomfort, never get pulled into anyone else’s fight, and change the game to fit your needs. This not only makes Ryron a financially successful individual, but a master in martial arts.

Even if you’ve never done martial arts, had any interest in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, or started real estate investing, this episode will help you change your mindset to thrive in situations where you feel lost and helpless, which is something all of us need throughout our lives.

Normally we have two hosts and one guest, but today we have three hosts, and one of them happens to be a guest as well. We welcome Tony J Robinson, host of the BiggerPockets Real Estate Rookie Podcast, to the show! Tony has grown a respectable following due to his impressive short-term rental portfolio, his ability to scale quickly, and his made-for-radio voice.

Tony grew up with real estate around him. His dad had a wholesaling company, and when it closed down his father relayed to Tony that his biggest mistake was failing to keep any of the wholesale deals as rentals. With this advice in mind, Tony saw an opportunity to fix up some rental properties in Louisiana. This gave him an intro to real estate funding, and after a few successful deals, he decided to dive in head first.

Now, Tony has short-term rentals in Tennessee and Joshua Tree. He’s started multiple partnerships and speaks on the benefits of having reliable, trustworthy partners, plus how to avoid toxic partnerships that will stop you from scaling. He also lets us in on his free and simple method of finding out whether or not a market will work for short-term rentals.

You wouldn’t think that a farm boy from Ohio would be spending hundreds of thousands if not millions on expensive clothing, high-priced whiskey, and expensive knife sets, would you? Only, he’s not buying these things for himself, he’s buying them for his clients, many of whom are some of the biggest names in business and entertainment. What does John Ruhlin from Giftology see in gift-giving that we don’t?

First, John realized that giving regular corporate gifts, like a stress ball or a free pen, wouldn’t cut it when trying to build long-term relationships. He even went as far as to get courtside NBA tickets paired with a $500 steakhouse dinner to get Cameron Herold (a past guest of ours) on his team, only to find that Cameron was severely disappointed. So he started turning up the personalization of his gifts.

Now, John sends out personally engraved knife sets, world-class food and wine pairings hosted by the best sommelier in the country, and video messages sent in physical boxes (seriously). He’s discovered the art and the science behind gift-giving and wants everyone to know what is, and isn’t an appropriate gift. As he puts it, you need to focus on your ROR (return on relationships) more than your ROI.

Letting go of something successful isn’t easy, but what if you know it’s costing you your dreams? Today we talk to mother, real estate agent, and massive multifamily investor, Pili Yarusi, about doing what it takes to stay focused, engaged, and on top of your life.

Pili moved out to New York from Hawaii with dreams of becoming a star in theater but ended up working as a bartender. Lucky for her, bartending is where she met her husband and future business partner. Together, they started flipping houses, which taught her not only to systematize investments but also to use her creativity in an efficient way. She and her husband later expanded into wholesaling.

Pili knew something was missing and she wanted to focus more on growing a multifamily portfolio. With help from some mentors, she realized that the main thing holding her back was her current (and very successful) flipping and wholesaling business. She closed both businesses, got herself systematized, and went head first into multifamily.

Now this homeschool teacher/mom is sitting on $75,000,000 in real estate, totaling in at 850 units. No small number by ANY means! She gives some incredible advice on what new investors need to do before they can reach their goals of owning big portfolios.

There is only one man on the podcast today that has a beard, and no, it’s not the guitar-playing, surfing, 7-foot tall one. David Greene is “seeing Greene” in this episode and gives new and experienced investors advice and answers on their questions. We go through a range of subjects from real estate notes, quitting a W2, scaling, and whether or not to start a property management business.

With David’s experience as a W2 police officer, agent, broker, investor, and lender, he can give all kinds of great answers related to real estate. So whether you’re a newbie trying to get your first deal done or an experienced landlord closing on a new house every week, there is probably some question David answers that can help you out!

All of these questions have been asked by BiggerPockets listeners either via video or from Facebook. If you weren’t able to get a question answered by David this time, you can submit a question at this link.

Nick Lamagna wasn’t planning on getting into real estate investing. When he finished college he knew that he wanted to go into law enforcement to help with counter-terrorism. He scored well on all the tests needed to be a great candidate for his dream job, but when he suffered a permanent hand injury, he was disqualified from working in law enforcement.

During a period where Nick didn’t know what he was going to do, his mom forced him to read Rich Dad Poor Dad, which (like many of our listeners) changed his view on making money and having a career. After the initial interest was sparked, Nick started tackling real estate deals outside of his native state of New York.

He faced challenges with getting mortgages, so he partnered with other real estate investors. He needed more cash, so he started wholesaling. The 2008 housing market crash happened, so he decided to start flipping. And now, Nick is going into bigger deals like commercial real estate and mobile home parks.

Nick’s advice to new investors: think creatively, get comfortable with being uncomfortable, be in constant contact with your team, and don’t stick to one strategy.

We like to think that we have a lot of winners on the BiggerPockets Real Estate Podcast, whether they are in real estate or not. We may have one of the biggest winners on today’s show. Tim Grover, trainer to Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant joins us to talk about overcoming adversity, developing a winning mindset, finding what makes you fail, and his new book, accurately titled Winning: The Unforgiving Race to Greatness. 

Tim argues that one of the hardest things to succeed in is business since there are so many factors that influence success. When you own or run a business, you’re constantly being thrown curveballs (like a global pandemic tied with government shutdowns). So how do you succeed when there is a constantly changing game plan? You adapt, you overcome, and you mitigate failure.

These are the exact lessons that Tim taught to his high-profile clients, like Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant, arguably the two greatest basketball players of all time. Before MJ and Kobe became the best, they had to master being average, then being good, then being great. So many people want to take shortcuts to greatness, not understanding that mastering those different levels is what truly puts you on a different stage than those who master the average level and give up.

There has been a great feud between Brittany Arnason and Host of the BiggerPockets Podcast, Brandon Turner. Both of them have done lots of renovations on houses, secured millions in funding, and live right next to the beach in Maui, but only one of them has won a “quickest person to get to 200,000 followers on Instagram” battle. We’re happy to have the winner on our show as a guest today!

Brittany started out her real estate journey when she was 18 years old, buying her first rental property and tackling a multitude of different DIY projects. If you haven’t heard her story, you can check it out on episode 320. Now she’s back to talk about how she moved to Maui, hired out her employees, secured funding on commercial deals, and used social media to get her deals and connections.

Her biggest advice to new investors, “jump in before you’re ready”. You won’t ever have all the answers, but those who get started will finish far ahead of those who always dream about being an investor. You can also help ease the stress and unforeseen speed bumps by getting in groups with other investors, following those you look up to on social media, and becoming a resource for future mentors.

We interview a lot of great guests on our Sunday episodes of the BiggerPockets Real Estate podcast, but we rarely hear from agents, investors, and BiggerPockets listeners who are in an early stage of real estate success. Both Brandon and David know what it’s like to be grinding, day in and day out, to get your real estate business off the ground. That’s why they’re here today to answer questions from live listeners about mindset, mentality, and growth.

We talk to Brody, Joseph, Wale, and Mike, all in different stages of their real estate journey, and all very committed to success! You’ll hear questions like:

If given the chance to go back, what would Brandon and David do differently?
What deserves more emphasis, mindset or skill set?
Is it okay to explore different opportunities at an early stage of investing?
How to find balance when SO many opportunities are exciting?
How do you make time for family, a job, side businesses, and real estate?
Why do investors lie to themselves?
Thanks again to our guests for coming on and throwing such great questions at Brandon and David!

Last time we did a live Q&A, fans from all over came on to ask questions to Brandon and David. Now we’re back, answering the questions that BiggerPockets Real Estate Podcast fans have on their minds. We’ll go over a handful of questions, all from different investors in different parts of their real estate journey. Questions include:

How can investors offload their unwanted properties to charities?
How do I stop analysis paralysis even after so much research?
Is it a good idea to buy in an area with a falling population?
What metrics should I look for when scaling my portfolio?
What’s the best niche to build wealth fastest?
Plus other commonly asked questions

Thanks again to our guests Nicole, Michael, Ryan, Owen, and Emily for throwing their great questions at Brandon and David!