Author: Gary Boomershine

To say Gary Boomershine, founder of RealEstateInvestor.com, is passionate about real estate is an understatement. We were fortunate enough to talk with him today about his predictions for the future of the real estate market and the seven-year cycle.

Is now the time to buy?

It’s a question Gary has heard hundreds of times. Before responding with a simple yes or no, Gary noted fundamentals to consider when making a purchase decision. The old “keep it simple” adage is not new to real estate and is a concept Gary recommends when it comes to investing in real estate. 

It’s as simple as this: You want to buy low, sell high, and not lose your investor’s money. – Gary Boomershine shares.

When considering a real estate purchase from an investment or wholesale standpoint, Gary warns not to fall in love with the property. Instead, fall in love with the cash flow. 

He suggests keeping in mind the three buckets of cash: 

1. Cash Now 
2. Cash Flow
3. Cash Later 

The “Cash Now” Bucket

Many investors think there is only one bucket, Cash Now, which is the immediate or short-term return on your investment. 

Common examples of Cash Now deals include wholesaling and house flipping which is buying, fixing, and selling a home for a profit. “Cash Now” refers to the transactional profit that’s made during a quick turnaround investment deal.

Cash Now deals are great. They can be lucrative, but as a one-time transaction payout, this is really just a JOB investors do. There’s no long term revenue associated with this bucket. – Gary shares.

Cash Now deals are one of the most common strategies that real estate investors employ in today’s market. But Gary strongly recommends that real estate investors not focus on this cash bucket alone. Instead, they should ALWAYS be looking at the other cash buckets to diversify the revenue they bring in. 

 “A lot of real estate investors think there’s just one bucket, the Cash Now bucket. They’re always thinking, ‘How can I make a quick transaction and a quick buck?’ That mindset drastically limits the deals they could be getting if they simply kept their eyes open to all three buckets of cash.” 

The “Cash Flow” Bucket

Cash Flow applies to rentals and the income the investor will receive on a regular basis. But Cash Flow can also be private lending which is an area he recommends when growing your business in this kind of market.

The “Cash Later” Bucket

Cash Later is the appreciation and tax advantages investors get on the property, not to mention the renter paying down the mortgage. 

Of course, everyone must live somewhere. If you are looking to purchase a home you will live in, or one you will rent out, which Gary refers to as a “buy and hold” investment, he recommends that you always look for a quality property. Not just any property that comes along in the right price range.

He also recommends that Investors plan to upgrade their “buy and hold” portfolio as well. This adds value to their investment long term. 

Investors should also be prepared to keep “cash later” investment deals for some time, if they wish to get a return. Gary explains why:

“Real estate is a finance and leverage game and it’s a long term play. It’s easy to be shortsighted just thinking about making a quick buck today, sacrificing the real advantages of real estate for long term wealth and its tax benefits.”

Overdue For A Downward Turn…

Gary suggests the market is due—actually, well overdue—for a downward turn. In fact, he predicted this long before COVID-19 came around… He’s been talking about this on nearly every podcast and interview he’s been on for the past two years! 

Historically, we’ve seen similar patterns, or cycles, that impact our economy and the real estate market every seven years or so, bringing with it a euphoric stage where massive transfers of wealth occur. 

This includes the mortgage crisis in 2008 and the 9/11 attacks in 2001, which both had significant impacts on the stock market. In 1994, there was the bond market crisis, and in 1987, we had Black Monday. All of which occurred seven years apart and date back almost 100 years. 

With these past economic examples, Gary has been predicting what he calls a “Boogeyman Event” and the next downturn, for several years. This cycle is far different from the natural order of supply and demand. It’s preceded by what many people call the “euphoric stage,” which is the final stage of the real estate market before the downturn. 

Gary explains his prediction and the euphoric stage well in his quote below.

It’s happened every seven years… Each downturn seems to have similar beginning catalytic events and similar end cycles. This creates what many people call the ‘euphoric stage.’ The euphoric stage is actually the final stage of the real estate market before the downturn occurs. It’s when everyone starts talking about real estate— The barber, the hairdresser… You can’t lose. It’s when the late night tv guys selling: “How To Get Rich In Real Estate,” start popping up everywhere. During this stage it’s a sellers market with over bidding on houses going on everywhere, which is when people start talking about real estate left and right. And it’s during the actual downturn or shortly after that massive transformations of wealth occur. This has happened consistently in an uncanny rhythm. So I had no doubt that we were overdue for what I call a “Boogeyman Event,” to start the cycle all over again. I’ve been telling real estate investors to be preparing for something like this for a while now. 2020 might have been a few years late, but here we are. – Gary Boomershine, RealEstateInvestor.com

The Boogeyman Is Here… So, What Should Real Estate Investors Expect?

At an almost twelve-year high, real estate investors should be prepared for a change, according to Gary who believes the next 6-9 months will be fairly the same as today. But investors should expect a drop in the next 24 months, with hefty decreases in some areas of the country of 20%. Here’s what he shared:

“We’re still seeing money out there… However, I foresee a drop in real estate in the next 24 months. Some markets, what I call the “linear markets,” will probably see more of a 5-8% drop similar to 2008. These are usually rural or middle parts of the country like Alabama, Oklahoma, Ohio, etc. Other areas might get hit much harder. Hot areas like Las Vegas, Phoenix, Hawaii, etc. might end up seeing drops upwards into the 25-30%+ range.” 

Today, we are seeing record high rates of unemployment. With people out of work, the inability for them to pay their mortgage will continue to rise as well. According to Gary, 25% of mortgage holders have less than one month’s savings. 

Inevitably, this will lead to a foreclosure boom. With more properties flooding the market and sellers desperate to unload properties they can’t afford, prices will drop. Investors with cash or creative buying power will be able to get great deals, while also helping sellers avoid financial disasters such as foreclosures. 

Mortgage holders aren’t the only group affected. Investors will also feel the impact according to Gary, who tells us that 53% of people living in rental properties have less than $500 in their savings account.

Landlords will need to sell because people won’t pay their rent. – Gary shares.

When renters cannot pay their rent, landlords suffer unless they have reserves to fall back on, and many do not… This leads to the snowball effect that we’ve seen repeat in the same cycle over the past 100 years. 

History is a great predictor of the future.  –Gary answers when asked how he came about his predictions earlier than most.

Many landlords bought late when real estate was peaking. In recent years, 50% of the single-family properties purchased were done by investors using them for rental purposes, not to live in themselves. 

These landlords who once weren’t interested in selling their properties are now having a change of heart, according to Gary, who noted their willingness to sell at a lower price than they would have entertained in the past. 

“There are burnt out landlords who were not interested in selling before. Now they are… Investors are going back to their old leads who said no to selling earlier and are finding sellers interested again. All the more reason why follow-up is gold during times like this.” 

This will present opportunities in the market, as Gary predicts these drops will be followed by massive appreciation. History agrees with him…

The biggest transformation of wealth will happen during these downturns. It happened every time before, and it will no doubt happen again. – Gary shares.

Gary suggests holding onto the properties you have now, citing incredible gains are coming. He gave an example of a property in the San Francisco Bay area that is worth $3 million today. In ten years, he predicts, it will be worth $10 million. A deal that’s definitely not too shabby! 

How is Gary so confident about this?

It’s simple economics… Hyper-inflation. With the amount of money that has been added to the economy recently, massive inflation is inevitable. And with that comes higher prices for everything from basic essentials like milk and cheese, to hard assets like real estate. 

In a hyper-inflation scenario, people will want to have hard assets. The middle class will disappear. Those who own real estate will be part of the wealthy. It has happened in other countries, and Gary expects it to happen here adding:

“Real estate is a long term game.”

What Should Real Estate Investors Be Doing Today?

Gary, who said they are already seeing a shift to buying remotely and creatively, compared today’s market to a tsunami. 

“People shouldn’t get caught watching the water recede rapidly at the shoreline thinking ‘Wow, look at the fish left on the beach!’ Instead, they need to get moving fast.” 

Instead, he recommends that investors stay one step ahead, thinking ahead and asking themselves, “Where do I want to be right now? On the shore or on higher ground?”

When it comes to what real estate investors need to be doing right now, Gary’s answer is in his “Three P’s.” 

Gary Boomershine’s 3 P’s: 

1. Protect what you have. 
2. Pivot to take advantage of the new market.
3. Profit. 

He expands on this a little further:

“Whatever you do, don’t sit idle. Take advantage of the situation and prepare for the future. Now is not a time to be sitting on the sidelines… Right now is a good time to step in and figure out what you’re doing and where you’re going.”

Right now real estate investors are doubling up on their marketing and going back to their old leads. This is the perfect time to learn how to buy and sell property remotely. 

This Virtual Wholesaling concept has seen an increase in recent months as investors began working from home. The market expands greatly when you work virtually. Investors like Gary can live in San Francisco and purchase properties in Dallas or Atlanta.

Gary also mentions that he’s seeing a massive shift to buying creatively. And by creatively, he means people are turning to private lending. Owners are willing to help finance some or all of the property because they want the income stream. 

“Buying creatively is going to keep growing in popularity since there’s a lot of opportunity there right now. Especially as owners look for additional revenue opportunities, and as they become increasingly concerned about the amount of taxes they will have to pay, capital gains, and so on. Some people are even worried about their money being safe in banks long term, making creative financing more appealing.” 

Real Estate, Monopoly, And An Uncertain Future…

While Gary considers himself a conservative investor, he cautions buyers not to wait too long before jumping back into the market. But, no one knows what the future holds. There could be a second wave, or even a third, fourth, or fifth wave, which is why he recommends having a safety net. Here’s what he shares…

“If you’re planning to buy today, ask yourself, can you afford it? If the answer is yes, can you still afford it if your job changes? For investors looking to purchase a rental unit, ask yourself if you can afford the property if your vacancy rate soars to 60%. If you can break even at that rate, buy the property. Be wise, use your best judgement, and think ahead.” 

Gary also referred to an old salesmen quote that says: 

“Good salespeople know what to go after. Great salespeople know what to walk away from.”

If you want to play the real estate game, then remember that it’s just like playing Monopoly. You can have all the real estate, but if you can’t pay the mortgage, you’ll have to turn your cards over, leverage them, and sell them for pennies on the dollar. Nobody wants to have to do that. – Gary Boomershine, RealEstateInvestor.com

At the end of the day, the future is no doubt uncertain. But one thing is for sure… 

There are incredible opportunities available in this market and more to come. And thanks to Gary sharing his wisdom with us, we know what to look out for, how to be prepared, and how to make the most of it. 

This is an absolutely fantastic time to be in real estate investing. For real estate investors who are already in the game, right now is all about making the right moves that will help you survive and thrive in this new market. – Gary Boomershine 

Ready To Learn More? 

If you’re interested in learning more about how you can survive and thrive as a real estate investor in a Post-Coronavirus world, we recommend that you check out this other article that dives deeper into this topic here:

https://realestateinvestor.com/articles/should-you-invest-in-real-estate-post-coronavirus/

Willie joined our RealEstateInvestor.com team 8 years ago, where he’s been an essential part of helping to build our highly effective coaching program that’s focused on helping real estate entrepreneurs build a high-growth, profitable, and successful real-estate business.

Our REInvent Coaching Program has helped numerous real estate investors accelerate business growth, fast track financial results, and build passive income.

An inside look at what a coaching program can help you achieve.

Whether you’re trying to build a successful real estate business from scratch, or you’re trying to scale your business to where you can achieve a high 6-figure or 7-figure income, a coach can help you get there. And that’s exactly what Willie Hooks and the rest of our REInvent Coaches help our members do.

A coach can help you clarify what your vision is, clarify what you need to do to get to that business level, help you understand what your current capabilities are, and which approach you need to take to achieve real success.

Our REInvent Coaching Program can help you:

1. Build a seven-figure real estate business
2. Generate massive profits
3. Cultivate a high growth environment
4. Become the CEO of a business that can run without you working in it
5. Make fast progress toward living these five important freedoms:

• Freedom of time
• Freedom of money
• Freedom of relationships
• Freedom of purpose
• And freedom of lifestyle

Q&A: Getting to know Master Coach Willie Hooks

During our interview with Willie we asked him several quick “get to know you” questions. Here are a few of our favorite responses we received.

Q: What’s your favorite thing about working with our RealEstateInvestor.com coaching clients? 

A: I’m passionate about helping my clients grow, develop, transform, achieve, and succeed in business and in life. In fact, the legacy that I leave lives with all the people I have helped to grow, develop, transform, achieve, and succeed. Those are great key words to be remembered by.

Q: When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?

A:As a kid I wanted to be a professional athlete or a highly decorated soldier. Which is probably one of the reasons why I joined the military at the age of 17— to serve my country and to fulfill that childhood dream. After serving for three years in the military, I decided to get out and pursue a career in computer technology, where I earned a degree in that field and later earned an MBA from the University of Pittsburgh.

Q: When you’re not working, what do you love to do?

A:I’m an avid reader, a movie enthusiast, and I love playing basketball… Even if I’m not as good as I used to be at it. As the old saying goes, “The older I get, the better I was.” 

Q: How do you start your day in the morning? 

A: When my alarm goes off in the morning I wake up, get up, and start my morning routine. The mornings are a great time to imprint new success behavioral patterns within the neural pathways of our brain.

Part of my morning routine, the thing that you might find funny or quirky, is that I do a short five minute primal scream exercise to release any negative tension within my body and to clear the cobwebs out of my brain that may have accumulated throughout the night.

Primal screaming, is just yelling out loud at the top of your voice the first thing that comes to mind, and at the same time visualizing negative tension, stress, and anxiety being released from your body and flowing out into the universe where the healing light can cleanse it.

Q: What’s one of the common misconceptions about coaching? 

A: A lot of people say that the coach holds you accountable. I’d rather say that a coach helps you build an accountability system, because the coach is partnering with you. It’s not a parent child relationship, it’s a support buddy system.

A coach will help you build an accountability system and a motivational system that you can utilize to hold yourself accountable in order to achieve the results you’ve dreamed of achieving.

Q: What makes our coaching program unique and different from other coaching programs?

A: Willie took the time to share his answer to this question in this short video clip below.

With only $500 in his pocket, Joe admits things were tough when he returned to New Hampshire. At first, Joe lived in his truck. He took a job as a machinist and scrimped and saved until he had enough money to purchase a tow-behind RV. 

But through all those years, the potential for success stuck with him as he remembered what his father told him about why he should invest in multi-family real estate.

Something my father told me about investing in multi-family properties popped into my head while I was working that job and living in a not-so-comfortable RV… He shared that if I used my money to purchase a property, I could live there for free and save for more investment properties. Building off that. – Joe shared.

Having successfully purchased and sold a property when he was a few years younger, Joe figured there was no reason why he couldn’t do that again. So he parked his RV in a campground near his job, where he lived for over a year until he saved enough money to purchase a small multi-family property.

From There, The Entrepreneurial Spirit Was Strong In Joe… 

Unlike what Joe did in his early twenties with his first property, this time he fixed up his investment property, refinanced it, and bought another. Following a popular methodology that many successful real estate investors utilize to grow their portfolios. 

After purchasing four or five buildings, including some retail business spaces, Joe had a decent portfolio and was enjoying owning and running multiple businesses and living the busy entrepreneur lifestyle. 

Joe spent the next seven years juggling real estate investing, working full time running a machine shop, as well as teaching at and owning a yoga studio. Having his toes dipped in multiple diverse businesses was something that Joe took pride in, even enjoyed as a hard working business owner. 

The Pursuit Of Freedom In Business

However, like the DIY trap that many business owners find themselves in, it wasn’t sustainable long term for Joe. Especially since his 80-hour work weeks didn’t provide him with the freedom he would need to live the lifestyle he desired.

It came time for a change when Joe met his current wife and fell in love. With her encouragement, he left his multiple careers behind and went into real estate full time five years ago.

Either I’m going for this real estate thing full time or I’m just going to give up on the dream. So I left my career as a machinist, made the jump, closed my studio, left my job as a yoga instructor, and sold some of my buildings. I had about $30k to start my business. I didn’t have a 401k, or people backing me, but I started young in this business. Then I recreated myself with $500 while living in an RV! So, I figured it was worth going all in now or never. It was— make it in real estate or go back to a machinist job… – Joe shares about his thought process when making the bold move to pursue his dream of building a full time real estate investment business. 

“That was five years ago… And the past five years have been a journey in and of itself in real estate land.” Joe says about the ride and the boldness of taking massive action to pursue his dreams of living his best life. A life where he could spend time with his wife, find financial freedom, and not work 80 hours a week. 

Joe’s massive action and tenacity to go “all in” paid off!

Today, Joe Theriault has a thriving real estate business, a team of 8 associates, and they’ve been closing 1 – 2 deals a week. With a two-year goal to acquire 100 units, Joe focuses on wholesale, brokerage, and flipping homes.

How Has RealEstateInvestor.com Helped Joe’s Business? 

Joe shared with us about his first introduction to RealEstateInvestor.com’s REIgnyte Platform of Products, and how impressed he was with our Grow CRM and the technology our co-founder Robert Syfert had unveiled at a conference he attended.

Of course, as life would have it, Joe had recently invested in another real estate CRM platform shortly before the event. He shares about the odd timing of it all: 

I was already a customer of another software company and had (not only) just bought their software but also invested in this (software) company (too). It was a big deal to switch at the time. – He shares.

At the time, the system he had invested in prior was not performing to meet his needs the way he felt like our Grow CRM could. Being a real estate entrepreneur who understands the value of his time and how our automation could save him even more of it, Joe found The REIgnyte Platform (formerly called InvestorPO) to be a better fit for his business. 

While it wasn’t an easy call to make a switch to another CRM again, Joe is happy he did, remaining a customer to this day.

“The system works and functions the way it’s supposed to. It follows up. There’s flexibility to customize. We’re able to generate offers in there pretty fast. It works on the front end pretty good.” Joe shares what he likes about our REIgyte Platform and why he feels it’s a great fit for other real estate entrepreneurs. 

It’s probably no surprise that we agree with our amazing member Joe Theriault! 

Namaste Joe.

Making Business Easier For Real Estate Entrepreneurs

We loved hearing Joe’s story, which he mentioned is simply a single piece of the pie when it comes to his full journey in building his successful real estate business. Something he said he could spend all day talking about. 

We have no doubt that this amazing entrepreneur has plenty of tales to tell after having started in multi-family so young, leaving the industry, and reclaiming his piece of the real estate empire with only $500 to his name. 

Joe is a definite example of persistence, taking action, and being bold in going after his dreams.

If you’ve been wanting to find a way to make building your business easier so you can reclaim more of your time and close more deals with less effort, RealEstateInvestor.com has the perfect solution for you. 

With a fully integrated platform and services that grow with you as your business grows, we’re committed to showing you what entrepreneur life should be like. We invite you to visit our website and find out for yourself today. 

By using REIgnyte, your business becomes easier and deals close quicker. 

Solid Advice From Joe…

When asked what advice Joe Theriault had for real estate investors in today’s market. He stressed how important it is to pause and review your business needs often, and to build a strong foundation for your business. Even if that means starting all over. 

What I’m learning now, I wish I had learned early on. I’m using this time to rip the wheels off the bus. Get the people in the right seats that need to be there. Hire the absolute best people we can, get the right systems and processes in place, and let’s go for it. We brought on some really, really good talent that will change this business.

Joe says he’s used the time at home during the COVID-19 pandemic to pause and review his business and to really get after implementing the EOS Traction Entrepreneurial Operating Methodology for his business. 

EOS Traction is a world-recognized business model that many successful large businesses utilize, including ourselves here at RealEstateInvestor.com. We even have a dedicated EOS Traction Coach on our team who works closely with our leadership team. All with a goal to build the best business we can for real estate entrepreneurs across the nation.

We’ve been talking about it from the early days of COVID-19…

It was the driving catalyst for our building Real Estate Investor Beacon, a 100% Free Facebook Community for real estate entrepreneurs looking for guidance through this time.

It’s why we started hosting our free monthly in-depth coaching events, as well as our free weekly strategy sessions where the REI Beacon community can ask all of their questions in a live open format. 

And it’s why we’re committed to being beacons of light in our industry and our communities. With a common goal of spreading a message of hope and positivity, redirecting our focus towards what is ahead of us…

Opportunity.

Why is NOW the time to invest in real estate?

We’ve discussed strategic business moves you can make while at home, how to find motivated sellers, as well as why this is the time to invest in vacation rental properties, short sales, and probate real estate.  

In this article, we’ll discuss four reasons you should consider investing in real estate right away.

#1 – Record Low-Interest Rates

Even before the coronavirus outbreak, the US was experiencing low-interest rates, but since the pandemic, rates have dropped to record levels—the lowest recording since Freddie Mac began tracking this data almost fifty years ago!

Because of this, now’s the time to refinance or consider investing in a new property.

By taking advantage of refinancing at a lower rate, you’ll not only save in interest paid long-term, but you can improve your cash flow too. Which will free up some funds to invest in real estate.

Have you ever thought about house flipping?

Not only can you get better rates on your home purchase, your house will also be more affordable to buyers when you sell. There will no doubt be new home buyers on the market looking to take advantage of these historically low rates. Meaning there will be a nice win-win for both of you.

 #2- A Surge in Treasury Bonds

If you haven’t been following the stock market, you may not know that there’s been an increase in treasury bonds. It’s a domino effect, really…

When safety investments increase, like the surge in treasury bond purchases, investors look for other safe investment options such as real estate.

Why is this a positive for real estate investors?

It opens up the door to more wholesale deals.

Now is a good time to work wholesale deals since investors are looking for properties to buy.

Wholesale investment deals can significantly help real estate investors grow and scale their business. In fact, we have a case study on one of our Managed Service Members who grew their business from 2 flips a month to 23 deals in just 7 months after our sales team helped them boost their wholesale deal flow.

It means a boost in private money funding.

But that’s not all. Equity investors are looking for other options for investing their money. Have you considered funding your next real estate investment with private money? It may be a better deal for you than a hard money loan.

We’ve got a podcast with one of our founders, Gary Boomershine, and an expert in private money— Jay Conner, that you can listen to about this subject here.

#3 Building Material Shortages

Because of Covid-19, many industries have seen disruptions in their supply chain, especially if their goods or materials come from China. For the home construction industry, imported building materials can take much longer to get today compared to pre-coronavirus days. This has an impact on their building schedule, lengthening the construction process, and reducing the amount of brand new properties available.

This works in favor of real estate investors who flip houses.

With less inventory of new properties on the market, investors that flip can experience more buyer’s demand in renovated homes. In addition, when there are more buyers than sellers, the opportunity for multiple offers can exist, making it an even better market for investors who are into flipping houses.

And it helps long-term rental investors see fewer vacancies.

Besides that, lower inventory means long-term rental investors will see fewer vacancies in their properties. People need a place to live and if there aren’t many choices, those that are available will fill much faster than when options are plentiful.

How to get the most out of a low inventory housing market?

Before you invest in rental homes, it’s important for you to understand what the standard rental rates are for renters in your area. High priced properties are not in short supply. To the contrary, there’s an abundance of those properties for sale and rent in almost any market.

To take advantage of low inventory in your market, you must concentrate on affordable options you can either flip or rent. No matter what type of market you’re planning to invest in, it always pays to do your homework first.

#4 Vacationing Has Stalled…

It’s not a secret… People are nervous about taking vacations over the summer break. From Covid-19 restrictions, worry about international traveling, and even some states going as far as releasing tourism campaigns encouraging out of state residents not to travel to their more remote resort towns until later, traveling is a bit of an iffy subject these days. 

Cancellations and empty rentals have already impacted existing property owners, and likely will continue to be an issue. Even if things clear up soon, it’s unlikely that tourism will bounce back to where it was pre-corona days… At least for a few years, that is.

This can leave investors feeling panicky if they don’t have sufficient reserves to weather this type of storm. Or if they work on tight margins and require maximum occupancy to survive.

Vacation rental owners might need to sell fast at bargain prices.

Desperate investors could opt to sell fast. And a fast sale could mean a bargain price for you. We have an article that discusses this more in-depth that you can read here.

If you’re looking to invest in vacation real estate for the future when things hopefully bounce back, now may be the time to pick up a property for a great deal. After all, we know the sun will shine again tomorrow and vacationers will eventually return to traveling.

A post-coronavirus world will be different, but opportunity is often found amidst change.

In a post-coronavirus world, there could be plenty of opportunities for you to invest. When our news feeds return to normal, investment opportunities might not be quite as vast as what they are right now amidst uncertainty.

How do you know if you’re ready to start investing in real estate?

While we think that now’s the perfect time to start your real estate investment business, no matter what your age is today, there’s still a lot of factors to consider before taking that leap. These include being financially responsible, self-motivated, driven, and a good self-learner, among many other things.

To get an inside perspective on what it’s like to build a real estate investment career young, we interviewed our youngest Managed Service Member at RealEstateInvestor.com, Justin James Sherfey, Real Estate Investor and CEO of Pacific Solutions Northwest.

Justin James Sherfey is a 21-year old real estate investor and musician from Spokane, Washington.

Justin made his first real estate deal straight out of high school when he built a spec house with his dad to learn the ropes and sold it for a return on his investment. 

Today, Justin’s one of our youngest real estate investors at RealEstateInvestor.com, having become a member at just 20-years old. An age that’s so impressive that our founders Gary Boomershine and Robert Syfert even interviewed him live about his journey. You can watch the full interview here.

In this article, we’ll be sharing about how he got started building his business by using our Managed Services to launch his company.

How Justin learned about us.

Before coming onboard with us, Justin did his homework. He was new to investing in real estate, but he had been soaking up knowledge about the industry for years by listening to podcasts—including our RealEstateInvestor.com Huddle Podcast—reading books, and seeking out mentors in the industry who were further along than him.

Because of his research, Justin knew he wanted to focus on wholesaling since it had a low barrier to entry. He also wanted to utilize direct mail to reach out to sellers since most of the competitors in his market were only utilizing cold calling. Both of which made our Managed Services a great fit for Justin.

Here are a few of the things that drew Justin to Our RealEstateInvestor.com Managed Service:

• We’re a one-stop solution provider with all of the systems, services, and resources that real estate investors like Justin need to fast track their business.
• We handle the marketing for him. All Justin has to do is provide a budget and zip codes and we handle the rest, including direct mailing at industry low pricing.
• Our sales ninjas work his lists for him, handling all inbound and outbound sales calls. They screen all of the calls and only send Justin the highly motivated sellers who are ready to make an appointment.
• We help him build a sustainable pipeline of qualified sellers who plan to sell in the next 12 months.
• By leveraging our team who handles all of the $10 per hour tasks for him, Justin can focus on CEO level tasks like closing more deals, learning and growing his business faster than if he tried to do it all alone.
• Justin also really liked that he would be able to reach out to our team of successful real estate investors to ask for advice whenever he needed it.

“I liked that RealEstateInvestor.com is run by real estate investors who are working in this business and finding great success. I was also drawn to the fact that it would provide me with a foundation to build my business on, instead of having to bootstrap it all. And it comes built-in with a solid support system where if I have questions, I can go to them and ask.” —Justin James Sherfey of Pacific Solutions Northwest

Breaking the mold and defying age norms…

While RealEstateIvestor.com has solutions for real estate investors at any stage of the game from beginner through to expert, our Managed Services Members are most often seasoned real estate entrepreneurs with a few deals under their belt at a minimum.

In fact, on our Managed Services Page we share some guidelines on who’s a good fit for this program and who’s not. According to the direct quote below from our website, Justin breaks the typical mold for sure. In fact, he might even be the catalyst for us adding in the last sentence…

If you are brand new to real estate investing, have never done a deal and don’t actively market for motivated sellers now, we may not be a good fit because the key to getting a good return on investment is the confidence you have to close appointments with motivated sellers. If you lack experience but have confidence you can close deals, feel free to apply and we’ll see if it’s right for you. (From the RealEstateInvestor.com Website.)

While we have our REIgnyte Platform that can grow with you from day one of opening your business through to becoming a 7-figure CEO, our Managed Service Membership does have a simple application and zero-pressure interview process involved to make sure a candidate is the right fit.

You can read more about who’s a good fit for our Managed Service and who might want to focus on our products here.

On paper, Justin wasn’t an instant fit. But, thankfully this isn’t a one-size-fits-all type of business…

During his interview with our Senior Director Of Success, Mrs. Julia Jordan, Justin’s confidence, determination, and grit were evident. Julia was extremely impressed by his thoroughly thought out business goals and the measures he had taken already to start getting himself into that CEO mindset. So much so that she jokingly asked Justin, “You’re not 20 are you?”

To which, Justin neither denied nor confirmed that question and simply responded, “Well, I’m in my 20’s…”

When it really matters…

We asked Justin during our interview if there were any hurdles he had to jump over before joining our Managed Services. He shared with us that the upfront investment was a hurdle for him, but he also shared this insightful piece of wisdom:

“Yes, it’s an investment, but if it wasn’t a significant monetary commitment I wouldn’t have cared as much. This pushed me to care and make things happen. At the end of the day if you want it, having the right resources and getting with the right people can get you where you want to go. You have to have grit and you have to be fearless if you want to do great things.” —Justin James Sherfey

Let’s look at how Justin’s business has grown since becoming a Managed Service Member:

Justin became a RealEstateInvestor.com Managed Service Member in June 2019. When Justin joined us he had not closed any solo real estate investment deals other than the one he closed with his dad. He also did not have a pipeline of leads he was working on yet.

June and July were all about learning and onboarding.

During his first two months with us, Justin did a lot of learning. He learned how to talk to sellers, how to have sales conversations, how to overcome objections, and how to answer seller’s questions.

He also learned how our system works, how to work his pipeline, and how to make offers. While Justin was learning, our team was busy working on getting his lists up and running, launching his direct mailing campaigns, and building his pipeline from scratch.

In August, Justin got his first and second deals!

Justin got his first real estate investment deal in early August on a Tuesday, AND he got a second deal the following day on a Wednesday!

With these being his first solo deals, Justin didn’t hesitate to ask for a lot of advice to make sure he was doing things right and to find the best ways to make the deals happen. Later that month he closed on both of those wholesale deals and brought in some nice revenue to boot.

Now he’s making 1-2 deals a month on average and has at least 20 solid future sellers in his pipeline.

Since becoming a Managed Service Member with us, Justin has grown from being a completely brand new novice real estate investor with no solo deals in his career, to becoming a young real estate investor who’s closing on average 1-2 deals a month when he’s in full swing! He’s also got at least 20 solid future seller leads in his pipeline.

That’s just the tip of the iceberg! Justin’s headed towards closing at minimum of 3-4 deals per month.

Justin was recently challenged by our RealEstateInvestor.com coaches to make at least one offer a day, and to shoot for a bare minimum goal of closing 3-4 deals per month. This goal is just the tip of the iceberg for Justin. With how determined he is and how far he’s grown in the short time he’s been actively investing in real estate, the sky’s the limit for this young entrepreneur.

What does this look like financially for this 21-year old real estate investor?

Prior to becoming a fulltime real estate investor, Justin was making money through his music part-time. In his best year doing music, he brought in around $50,000 for the year.

In his first 11 months of investing in real estate using our RealEstateInvestor.com Managed Services, he’s already exceeded that revenue! And he plans to triple that income over the next 12 months!

He’s also looking to purchase a multi-family deal in the next year with at least 12 rental doors, and he’s wanting to partner with other investors on more deals this year so he can learn from them.

How does this young entrepreneur push himself to get after it?

When we asked Justin how he pushed himself to actively pursue his dream and to take massive action at such a young age, here’s what he shared:

“I feel like everyone has the urge to just sit around and be an ogre all day, no matter what their age is. But I think it was about creating structure for me. I have to have that structure for my daily, weekly, and monthly goals. I’m looking at how I can build the lifestyle I desire. I want to exit my business and experience life. So I focus on building the business that will afford me the lifestyle I desire 5, 10, 15 years from now.” —Justin James Sherfey

Would Justin James Sherfey refer RealEstateInvestor.com To Other Real Estate Entrepreneurs?

Yes! He’s already been a guest star on our live Q&A on Real Estate Investor Beacon, our free Facebook group for real estate entrepreneurs. You can watch this full video here. Where he openly expresses his appreciation for our services as he shares his growth journey. This video is filled with lots of great wisdom from both Justin and our founders. It’s worth a quick watch.

In closing, we’ll share a final quote from our interview with Justin about why real estate entrepreneurs should consider becoming a RealEstateInvestor.com member.

“If you’re looking to get on realestateinvestor.com you’ll be getting education from the nation’s best, some of the best influencers who are actually working in the business. You have access to them through REIbeacon and the opportunity to build a solid platform for your business is here. They’re reachable, they’re connectable, they’re not “a celebrity.” You can reach out and have a conversation with them. RealEstateInvestor.com has helped me get all of my deals.” —Justin James Sherfey

Thank you Justin for being an amazing Managed Service Member. We’re so grateful to be a part of your journey and can’t wait to help you grow to new heights this year!

You spent hours researching the market, finding the perfect neighborhood, and property with just the right amenities and all within your budget. 

You’ve got your property determined and now you’re excited, hopeful, and confident making your offer. Perhaps you even added something extra to make it more enticing like offering a quick close, but heaven-forbid you had competition. 

…All to find out a few days later that your offer was declined, leaving you whirling in a fog of “what just happened?” without as much as a counteroffer…

Sound familiar? Well, it’s happened to many of us real estate investors before.

To get a quick sale deal, you need the right tools and a solution mindset.

Of course, we can’t predict the outcome of any offer you make, but we can arm you with tools and services to put you ahead of your competition and perhaps in a more appealing position for the next property’s seller. 

But, even with the best tools and services in their toolkit, top sales professionals like Jeff Cohn of kwELITE also credit their success to selling solutions. 

In real estate, that means understanding your seller’s motives for listing the property in the first place.

Knowing the types of motivations sellers have may help you formulate the perfect offer and win the quick sale.

Here are a few different motivators for selling a property fast.

When Their Property Condition is in Distress.

Selling the property without having to make repairs may be the homeowner’s dream offer…

In fact, Erik Hatch is one of our RealEstateInvestor.com Managed Service members who shares about giving sellers a First Class selling experience in this article.

Or perhaps they don’t have the financial means to fix up the place and are hopeful someone will take it off their hands quickly “as-is” to prevent a short sale.

A leaking roof, outdated kitchen, or damage from a natural disaster are all conditions that could put a property into distress. Repairs and updates can be expensive and not everyone has an eye for remodeling design or is handy with tools. Hiring a professional may be out of the budget for the homeowner further reducing the property’s condition.

When making an offer on a property in distress, consider the time and expense that will be needed, to ensure it’s a good investment for you. We recommend implementing an inspection reporting system like the online one we offer members as part of our REIgnyte Grow platform.

Emotional Turmoil is Another Major Reason for a Quick Sale.

When a loved one passes away, heirs that inherit a property are already under an emotional distress. Perhaps the family member was sick or passed away suddenly. Maybe they were in the hospital or in a long-term care facility.

No matter what, those left behind are dealing with the loss of their loved one, the planning and expense of a funeral, and the need to not only sell the property but also pack up the remaining belongings. This in and of itself can add more emotional distress to the already stressful situation, especially if there are multiple heirs to contend with, making a quick sale a good solution for all parties.

Also, if you’re interested in learning how to invest in Probate Real Estate, this Podcast we had with guest Sharon Vornholt is a great start…

Divorce, job relocation, or seniors downsizing to smaller homes also fit into this emotional turmoil category. 

A quick sale may be what the owner is hoping for if they are selling because of a job relocation or have recently divorced. They may want to get out as quickly as possible and move on with their lives.

In whichever case, considering the seller’s needs may help you draw up an offer perfect for both parties. All of these situations put real estate investors in a unique position to be able to help someone in need, while also growing a sustainable real estate business.

Knowing When A Quick Sale Turns Into A Future Seller Lead…

Perhaps a quick sale is out of the question if the home was recently inherited and the new owners need to sort through grandma’s attic. Or perhaps they live out of state and need to hire a professional to help with emptying the property. A longer time may be necessary.

With that said, these types of leads can still turn into deals later down the road if you implement the right type of follow-up plan to capture leads that might not be ready to sell for several more months.

Financial Hardship Often Results In Quick Sales.

Job loss is one of the top reasons for financial hardship resulting in either a quick sale or a short sale. Without sufficient reserves, families may be unable to afford their mortgage, or have tax bills mounting. They may be considering bankruptcy and need to sell the home quickly.

Death and divorce are other reasons for hardship as well. Losing income from the loss of another person may cause the home to be unaffordable too. Not only is the seller dealing with the financial concerns, but they may be motivated emotionally as well.

Whatever the reason, sellers experiencing financial hardship are typically looking for quick dollars to get them out from under this burden. Understanding their situation can help you find the right balance.

What’s the difference between a quick sale and a short sale?

If you’re not sure of the difference between quick sale properties and short sale properties, here’s a simple distinguishing factor: Quick sales are typically home owner sold and short sales are sold once the bank takes a property back due to non-payment or other default reasons.

In this article we’re discussing quick sales, but if you’d like to learn more about short sales, you can check out this article we wrote here.

How do you locate these motivated sellers in the first place?

With the amount of knowledge and tools on the market today, you can do things the easy way through systems that help you identify Motivated Sellers like our very own property List Manager that allows you to stack and sort your lists to laser target your leads.

Or you can go the manual route which might look like this…

Besides working with real estate agents or searching MLS for available properties, you can work with lawyers or property managers. Motivated sellers can also be off market. Obituary listings and court filings may be good resources for recent divorces, bankruptcies and foreclosure.

As more baby boomers downsize, Senior Move Managers who work with older citizens on their relocation needs, may be another great resource in your search for your next property.

How to approach motivated sellers looking to sell quickly.

Whether in flourishing economies or tough economic times like we’ve recently experienced, understanding your seller’s motivation could be the key to winning the sale.

Start with having a conversation with your seller. Find out why they are selling and how they feel about it. You may be surprised at what they are willing to share if you just ask.

If you’re interested in learning more about how to help those in need of selling their homes fast through your real estate investment business, this podcast is a great one: How to Approach Sellers with a Heart of Empathy hosted by our very own Julia Jordan and guest Alan Weeks.

The 3 scaling secrets that a seven-figure real estate investor uses over and over again to generate massive cash flow with very little investment. 

We hope you enjoyed this article about how to approach quick sell homeowners with solutions to win the sale.

We’re continuing to provide free webinars and training for real estate investors to make the most of this unprecedented market over on our REI Beacon Facebook Group. (Make sure you join this free resource group.)

Successful people know about the Law of 33%. 

Whether it’s referred to as the Law of 33% or the 33% Rule, the concept is still the same. In order to be successful at whatever you do, you should surround yourself with people who help you build and maintain that success. And since there are three different groups of people who can help you along this journey, you should intentionally spend 33% of your time with each group. Hence, the Law of 33%. 

This rule can be applied across multiple facets of your life, but for this article I’ll be specifically talking about how the Law of 33% can apply to real estate entrepreneurs. But first, let’s look at why you need to invest in people, and if you need to change the way you think before you can even start implementing the Law of 33%.

People are the lifeblood of all real estate businesses.

As a real estate investor, you can’t get around the fact that you need people. You need sellers, you need buyers, and you need everyone in between in order to make deals happen. People are the lifeblood of every good business. People can make or break your success, and investing your time in the right people can mean everything. Especially if you dream of building a real estate empire! 

“It’s not what you know, it’s who you know.”

Before you roll your eyes, think about it. While this isn’t an absolute statement—since it does require knowledge and action to be successful—it’s still a true statement. This is why you see pictures of crazy rich people partying together on each other’s yachts plastered all over social media.

Do they all happen to love the ocean that much?

Nope! In fact, I’d venture to guess that 33% of them had to take a ton of Dramamine in order to simply attend an event at sea. But it’s worth it because they understand the law of 33%. And they know the importance of surrounding themselves with people smarter and more successful than them.

I don’t know anybody with a yacht. Does that mean that I won’t find success?

It’s not about the yacht. I used that as a figurative example to describe successful people who have built great wealth. Or more simply put, America’s 1%.

According to Economic Policy Institute data, only 1% of families in the United States make a combined annual income over $421,926. That means if you’re in a dual income household, each person would need to make just shy of $211,000 per year to step from away from the 99% and into the 1%. While that level of income’s quite nice, it’s actually not as unreachable as some of us thought it would be. Especially not when you’re in real estate…

So, what keeps 99% of our population from closing this gap?

Is it bad luck or circumstance?

Nope.

The gap is wide, because changing the way we think is harder than making excuses.

The way we think is what keeps that gap wide open. Many of us think in “impossibles.” After all, how many of us thought that the 1% made millions or billions of dollars? If you had to make millions or billions of dollars, that would seem a whole lot more impossible than taking a $100,000 bite out of that gap each year for five years to exceed $421,926. Right?

When the 99% hear the phrase, “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know,” they think differently than the 1%. They think about how they’re not fortunate enough to be connected with “the right people.” They might blame it on their upbringing, where they live, their financial status, or a million other factors that keep most of the population stuck in the 99%.

The truth is that every single person has control over what they do with their time. And spending time investing in forging relationships that are positive, that lift you up, and that push you outside your comfort zone is always possible.

No matter who you know today, or who your family knows, forging new relationships is always possible. You just need to tear down that wall in your mind that says it’s not. And then utilize the Law of 33% to make the most out of who you’re spending time with.

The Law of 33% Simplified for Real Estate Investors.

Smart and successful real estate entrepreneurs grow and scale their empires through connecting with people and investing in the right groups of people. Let’s look at how the Law of 33% applies to our industry below. 

• Spend 33% of your time with real estate entrepreneurs who are smarter than you. Invest in mentors and coaches with proven track records. Surround yourself with people who are 10-times further ahead than you are. Join Masterminds and networking groups. This will push you outside of your comfort zone, and encourage you to grow and push your boundaries further. This can also provide you with the resources and connections that can assist you along your climb to the top. And perhaps you’ll even befriend a yacht owner if you look hard enough.
• Spend 33% of your time with your peers and friends who are on or near your same level. Helping each other through the journey and watching each other find success in real estate is incredibly motivating and rewarding. This will keep you pumped up and encouraged.
• Spend 33% of your time helping others who are not as far along as you are. Giving back is rewarding and it’s what keeps the cycle of learning going. Just as others invested in helping you grow your real estate career, you should return the favor by investing in others as well.

Not sure where to start? Join our RealEstateInvestor.com community. 

Our community at RealEstateInvestor.com is filled with real estate investors at all stages in their careers. Our members get exclusive access to high-list Mastermind groups, and training events where they can network with other members and learn from the industry’s best and brightest. In fact, we’re even hosting a mega event called REIgnyte 2020 that starts Saturday, May 2^nd in Tampa, Florida. That’s a great place to meet other real estate professionals!

We believe in investing in our community. And we love providing our community with the tools, systems, and services that real estate entrepreneurs need in order to grow a truly successful business.

Want to hear from our community?

Check out Hannah and Dustin’s story about how they went from 2 deals a year to 23 deals in 7 months! Below is a snippet from their interview with us. It sounds like they learned the Law of 33% early and are well on their way towards becoming a part of the 1%!

We asked: If you could go back to the beginning of your real estate career, what’s one thing you would do differently?

They answered: We would have joined a Mastermind sooner because being around the people who do what you want to do successfully is an amazing thing. It just pushes you.

—Hannah Ritch and Dustin Hoffman from D.L. Hoffman Homes
Successful real estate investors and REIgnyte Managed Members

The real estate market changes every few years. Sometimes motivated sellers are coming out of the woodwork, and other times they’re super hard to find. Experienced Real Estate Investors cite their slowdown of seller leads on many different sources. Let’s look at those common sources to determine what might be causing your seller lead flow to slow down.

“When a market heats up, new real estate investors flood in and sour good leads.”

It’s exciting when a market heats up. But when this happens it’s inevitable that new real estate investors will eventually flood in. This ‘gold rush’ effect happens when people see other entrepreneurs making good money. This usually results in a mixed lot that’s made mostly of people chasing easy money, and only a few new real estate investors who are actually serious about putting in the effort to build their businesses.

It’s not either of our jobs to decipher who’s serious about joining our industry from who’s not. That gets weeded out on its own eventually. After all, building a business in real estate takes effort and it’s far from easy money. So once those who aren’t ready to work hard see this, they’ll move on to the next shiny thing.

But are these newbies to blame for souring the best leads in the market and turning qualified sellers off from dealing with other real estate investors in general? Possibly. But this would likely only happen with a handful of leads, but not enough leads to really impact your business…

“This or that marketing source used to work, but it’s totally dead now.”

No industry is immune to fluctuating marketing trends and changing algorithms on popular PPC advertisement sites. Real Estate Investors can suffer from low lead conversion rates, poor performing ads, direct mail campaigns that bring in less than optimal results, and other marketing sources that seem to dry up.

While this definitely can cause seller leads to slow down, there are a lot of different factors at play with these ads that can impact their overall performance. That ad source might not be working well right now or it might be a poorly worded or targeted ad, among many other potential reasons. But is this really keeping real estate investors from being able to get quality seller leads? No.

So what’s really causing the slowdown in seller leads?

The truth is there’s no shortage of seller leads. Motivated sellers are a little harder to find when the competition heats up, but any investor (or agent) worth their salt knows how to find them. 

You can find list brokers and software that pulls public records by the thousands. Or you can invest in high quality direct mail lists or internet advertising that’s proven to work now. Just because what you did last year isn’t working today, it doesn’t mean that nothing is working now.

Actually, when it comes down to it, getting seller leads to come in the door is actually easy if you take the time to find out what’s working now. But that’s not what you really need to get a leg up on your competition…

Real Estate Investors are so focused on generating seller leads when it’s not even the problem!

Sales and marketing is really a game of weeding people out, eliminating sellers who aren’t a good fit for you, and getting to the appointment so you can close the deal.

The most successful investors are not blinded by the numbers game and generating more leads. They’re focused on generating more appointments. Appointments that are with qualified and motivated sellers who already know they need to sell their house and that you might be the solution that can help them.

A solution that gets you straight to the appointment stage.

This is what we do for our members of RealEstateInvestor.com. We offer the tools and resources to help our members to bypass all of that time spent in the weeds looking for leads, and instead head straight to the appointments so that they can close bigger and better deals.

Our REIgnyte Managed members are some of the country’s most successful real estate investors, and we handle everything for them. From marketing, cold calling, qualifying leads, and setting appointments, we take care of the grunt work so they can focus on growing their business.

When our investors can focus on the process that happens from appointment through to closing the deal, they’re able to scale their business faster and they’re much happier because they can relax and know all of the lead work is covered for them. As a result, they can focus on closing more deals, more consistently and with less effort.

If you’d like to learn more…

If this sounds like something you’d like to know more about, let’s set up an appointment to talk. Our new REIgnyte suite has a wide range of options for real estate entrepreneurs. Options that can grow with you as you scale your business. 

We’d also love to see you in our REI Beacon Private Facebook Group where we hold regular training’s and Q&A’s with industry experts!