A Heart For Leadership Development and Coaching…

Wilts has been helping to build and shape leaders for more than three decades, and has been on our REInvent Coaching Team for two years now. His coaching style and coaching expertise allow him to be very effective in working to help real estate entrepreneurs own their roles as CEO’s of their business, and bridge the gap between where they are today and their ambitions for the future.

Wilts has a long list of leaders he’s coached throughout his 30+ year career, including executives at Procter and Gamble, Coca-Cola Company, Ford, and the University of Alabama. He’s a recognized leader in the field of organizational transformation and leadership development, where he has devoted his career to mastering the art and science of coaching executives and business owners across three continents.

Smart Leaders Learn From Other People’s Mistakes…

Coach Wilts started his career in private lending and became a real estate investor over 30 years ago when he purchased his first rental property—a duplex. Since then he’s gone on to invest in multiple office building and vacation rentals deals both in the US and Internationally.

Wilts admits to learning the ins and outs of real estate investing the hard way, since RealEstateInvestor.com and the REInvent Coaching program didn’t exist three decades ago.

He believes that both our services and our coaching program could have helped him avoid many of the rookie mistakes new real estate entrepreneurs often make. Those experiences didn’t go to waste though, as he uses lessons he learned the hard way to help the real estate entrepreneurs he coaches today.

We asked Wilts which strategy he’s using today when it comes to real estate investing, and here’s what he had to share.

“Being a real estate investor has never been my primary business. It has always been a passive income piece of my diverse portfolio.” – Wilts Alexander shares about his experience and his current personal approach for investing in real estate.

Building Passive Income Through Real Estate Investing…

Since Wilts is a full-time business coach, he takes a more passive approach when investing in real estate, preferring to be the private money for other investors, or buying and holding properties that appreciate and that can be used as both long term and vacation rentals.

“For me very simply, I found properties where there was a scarce resource. For example, lakefront properties are some of my favorite investments.”

The key for his strategy is to purchase properties that appreciate over time. This provides him with a safer investment long-term. Wilts shared with us how instead of renting when building his house, he opted to purchase a property he could later rent out. He did that for fifteen years.

“It’s a safer investment for what I’m going for… It’s not going to lose value. If it does lose, it’s going to come back quicker than anything else.” – Wilts shares.

Also, by buying a vacation property in a popular location, Wilts and his family had the ability to utilize their own vacation rentals for family vacations and fishing trips, which are among his family’s favorite pastimes.

A Day In The Life Of A Performance Coach

Wilts begins his day with a prayer, meditation, and worship.

“I want to keep in mind I’m blessed and fortunate, and I want to be thankful for that. RealEstateInvestor.com has given me an opportunity and a platform for what I’m very passionate about.”

After preparing for the day mentally, he blocks out time for different tasks. He admits he begins with things he may need more time for, or things he may like the least. Writing and putting together presentations are typically done early, before moving on to preparing for coaching sessions. This may include reviewing audio or video from past sessions to doing research or preparing new assignments.

Coaching sessions are done one-on-one and can last anywhere from 30 minutes to one hour depending on the member’s needs that day.

“There is a difference between consulting and coaching. A consultant provides solutions to the problem.” Wilts shares.

As a coach, Wilts helps clients do the hard work to come up with solutions to the problems they are facing.

“I listen enough to help them understand what the real problem is. Is the problem in business execution? Is the problem in planning? Are they procrastinating? I work on that from the content of the problem to get to the root cause and then solve it.”

The best way to do this is by getting into the action. If a member has a fear of talking to sellers, Wilts has them role play. Walking through the scenario helps identify the root cause and work towards fixing it.

“A coach can only be effective if the player is in action.” – Wilts Alexander shares about the necessity of active coaching.

Since Wilts has been instrumental in applying techniques to develop high performance organizations and leaders for decades, he’s learned a thing or two about what works and what doesn’t.

One of those tools he’s found to work the best is getting his coaching clients into action. Whether it’s through role playing, talking it out, writing it out, or doing something physical, people tend to learn through action much more effectively than they do through being verbally told how to do something or what to do.

“What is most effective is not telling them how to do the job, it is seeing them do the job and helping them be more effective.”

The Stumbling Block Most Real Estate Investors Run Into 

Newer investors initially have difficulties blocking time, setting a plan, and focusing on executing it. While they may want to earn 7-figures and they may say they want to invest in marketing and making calls, the truth is they often procrastinate in actually making that happen. Sometimes they can’t find the time to do it, or they simply have a fear of doing the necessary tasks.

A lot of times people use cost as a block that keeps them from investing in both marketing and the software and services that can help them scale their business, which in turn holds them back from growing altogether. It’s a cyclical process that coaches help to root out and fix.

The Key To Success Is To Know Your Numbers.

As a coach, Wilts identifies this by simply talking numbers and data. Numbers don’t lie. During each coaching session, assignments are set, and members are held accountable for keeping record.

The scorecard we use for REInvent Members is a great tool to track performance, but members can use whatever tool works best for them. The key is that they need to know their numbers.

“To be a success in this business, the thing that differentiates real successful entrepreneurs from the ones who are not, are the ones who know their numbers.”

You Can’t Achieve Success Without Taking Action.

Wilts helps members commit to planning, understanding their numbers and their data, and managing their time better to achieve the results they desire. This is where it all begins. After that though, it’s up to them to follow through on their commitment by taking action.

After all, both knowing their numbers and being willing to take action are two major keys to finding success as a real estate entrepreneur, according to Wilts who quoted longtime friend and fellow REInvent coach Willie Hooks who always says:

“Learning is just entertainment unless they take action.”

Why Real Estate Investors Should Invest In Coaching

We asked Wilts to give us some feedback on why real estate investors need coaching and why they might want to consider joining our REInvent Coaching Program. Here’s what he had to share:

“You can become the kind of person you want to be, have the lifestyle of an entrepreneur, or you can go out and do what we did. Work your way through the landmines the hard way. I stepped on 99% of them. I’m still whole, but I can save you from stepping on them too. This is what we bring to you when you join the REInvent Coaching Program. You can figure out how to achieve success in real estate investing, and you could piece-meal your business together by yourself in terms of processes, systems, and tools. Or you can use what’s here and start making money today. For me, it’s a no brainer. The value of the time saved by not trying to recreate the wheel shouldn’t be underestimated.” Wilts shares.

Coach Wilts Works Hard, But He Plays Hard Too.

Living in Orlando, Florida with his family, Wilts enjoys boating and fishing. He makes time each day to go for a walk or take a bike ride outdoors. His family enjoys traveling across the US, visiting national parks, touring museums, learning history, and seeing some of the places this great country has to offer.

This year, Wilts plans to do even more sport fishing than last year. And hopefully he’ll even catch a marlin with his son!

A Big Thank You To Coach Wilts Alexander!

We’re grateful to have amazing coaches like Coach Wilts Alexander on our team here at RealEstateInvestor.com.

Thank you Coach Wilts for taking the time to let us interview you, and for being such a shining light to all of our members!

A Family Legacy In Business

Considered a ‘surprise baby’ born to his parents who were in their late thirties, Gary was the youngest of four children. He was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, California, and comes from a long line of successful entrepreneurs. With a goal of being able to have more time to spend with his four children, Gary’s father made the hard decision to close the family printing and manufacturing business a year after Gary was born. Since his father already had strong relationship building skills, he decided to try his hand in real estate and quickly found that he had a knack for it. This was the early beginning of Boomershine Realtors. While Gary was growing up he watched many of his siblings get their real estate licenses straight out of high school so they could take their place in the family business. With more of an interest in adventuring, playing video games, playing soccer and causing trouble, Gary didn’t see himself being a real estate agent holding open houses. He was more interested in building software solutions and inventing stuff. An interest that would be soon tabled and put on pause when Gary was just 14-years old. An Early Lesson in Perseverance and Faith Gary can still remember the day he found out his father had cancer. He came home from what was a typical day in the 8th grade for him, only to sense that something wasn’t quite right. A family meeting later that evening with all of his siblings present confirmed those feelings. That’s when he found out his father had an advanced stage of Leukemia.

“While I couldn’t fully comprehend everything at the time, I knew it wasn’t good. Cancer was never good. And losing my dad was something I didn’t even think would be a possibility up until then. From that day on, my mindset changed drastically, and I grew up fast. While I couldn’t control the fact that my dad was sick, or the fact that his life now had an expiration date looming in the near future, I could control my actions. From that day on, I became a straight-A student. I worked hard to not add to my parent’s stress or worries in any way. And I began serving my family wherever I could.” —Gary shares regarding his thoughts and his mindset after learning his father was sick.

With all hands on deck while his father was receiving treatments, all of the Boomershines helped fill in the gaps in the family business where they could. Adult children with real estate licenses took over the open houses and client meetings. The younger siblings helped with basic administrative tasks. But, business began slowing down and they realized that this was because their father was unable to go to his usual networking and meeting spots to drum up new business and referrals.

“We had to find a way to get clients to come to us, since my dad couldn’t go out and be at all of his usual networking and meeting spots. This is where our grandfather’s old printing presses came into play. This was around the mid-80’s when direct mail had just started coming up. Most people didn’t understand this form of advertising, but we all put our heads in the game as a family to figure it out. And we did just that. We fired up my grandfather’s printing presses and began printing direct mailers and letters to drive his business and to reach out to his clients. Every Saturday morning all of us would be in the garage working the printing presses and stuffing envelopes… And the clients started rolling in. This was my first introduction into direct mail—at the age of 14-years old—which became a huge part of my business later in my career.” Gary shares about his family’s resourcefulness and his first introduction to direct mail.

Over the next several years, Gary’s parents taught him what it meant to have a firm foundation of faith, and how to persevere through hardship and trials. All of which helped Gary to grow and mature not only physically, but emotionally and spiritually too. Here’s what Gary had to say about his parents and what he learned from them.

“My mother taught me how to be kind, loving, and honest. How to love others, no matter their differences, and to give generously. My father taught me the importance of honoring your word and doing whatever it takes to get the job done. He taught me what makes a man a good man, how a leader should lead, and how to work through my emotions when the situation gets tough. Through the next four years I learned a lot about pushing myself outside of my comfort zone, and working hard even when I didn’t feel like it. All of which prepared me early on for my future.”

Stepping Out Of His Comfort Zone When Gary graduated high school, he followed the family tradition, got his real estate license, and joined Boomershine Realty part time. While he was doing this to help his family, it wasn’t the dream he had for the long term and his parents both knew this. Even though medical bills had been piling up, his parents still insisted that Gary go to college using the funds that they saved for his tuition. Even after enrolling at the University of California Davis, Gary struggled with accepting the tuition money that his parents sacrificed to save for him, and often offered to get a student loan so his parents could use his college fund to pay off medical debts. During our interview, Gary shared some of the humbling words his dad shared with him the first time he brought up the subject of getting a student loan.

“My dad would say, ‘Gary—you work as hard as you can, and get the best education you can get. And I’ll stay alive long enough to pay for it.’ And he did just that. He passed away shortly after my college graduation, but he did see me get married to my wife of now 26 years. But the way he fought for every day he had on earth with his family, solidified his place in my list of ultimate heroes and role models to look up to.” Gary shares.

This was also one of the early noteable lessons that helped to instill the importance of financial freedom into Gary’s personal values that he has to this day. From Computer Engineering To A Near 180… Gary graduated from The University of California Davis with a degree in computer engineering, where he then left the family business to become one of two students recruited to Accenture—formerly called Andersen Consulting, one of the top consulting firms in the world. While there, he gained invaluable experience working in executive level enterprise software sales and consulting, that helped him to become a great problem solver and an expert in business process automation. From Accenture, Gary went on to build four successful software startups from the ground up, where he learned a good deal about leadership and team building, as well as the importance of building and maintaining long-term strategic relationships. Relationships that have spanned multiple decades and across multiple ventures, many of which he still has to this day. While Gary has always been passionate about his career in software, it grew increasingly obvious that his work-life balance was far from where he wanted it to be. With a loving wife at home and two beautiful daughters growing up before his eyes, he knew he wanted more time to spend with his young family. And after having earned 180,000 frequent flyer miles in a single year, and feeling increasingly tired of being away from his girls, Gary knew it was time to make a change. So He Returned To Real Estate…  Kind of… In 2004, Gary decided to start a business and career in real estate investing, which also led him to become the co-founder of Wealth Classes for an Inc500 Fastest Growing Company, and its flagship product—The Bankers Code. With his prior extensive experience in real estate and marketing, a degree in computer engineering from the University of California Davis, and his extensive experience in business process automation and consulting, Gary found that he had a knack for staying in front of emerging real estate trends and helping business leaders grow and flourish without sacrificing their personal lives. And this helped him decide it was time to look at doing more in the industry… The Beginning Of Something Great. While he was investing in real estate, Gary never veered too far from software… Gary saw his vision for RealEstateInvestor.com early on after noticing a glaring opportunity to leverage people, processes and technology to gain a leg up in the changing and competitive real estate investment marketplace. This vision led him to launch SalesTeamLive in 2005. While SalesTeamLive was initially launched as a direct mail service provider it soon grew into something more when Gary began piloting a software and services model in his own real estate investment business. Soon Gary noticed that automating simple processes with software and delegating what he calls “$10 per hour tasks” to outsourced teams, enabled him to save time while working smarter, not harder. This also allowed him to focus on the tasks that made the most money, like talking to sellers, making offers, closing more deals, and growing his business. All of which are part of RealEstateInvestor.com’s business model today.

“Most investors limit their growth and many times fail because they lack real marketing and sales expertise along with the infrastructure to scale their business. Instead of being able to focus on closing deals and maximizing profits, they hit a wall trying to build and do everything themselves; and they simply can’t do it!” —Gary shared what motivated him to build RealEstateInvestor.com.

Launching RealEstateInvestor.com With a shared services concept that filled a major industry need, Gary’s company grew from SalesTeamLive and then REIvault, into what is today called RealEstateInvestor.com. RealEstateInvestor.com has gone on to become Inc. 500’s Fastest Growing Company three years in a row. Positioned and ready to start a technological revolution in the real estate market, Gary’s company grew even larger over the past year by merging with automation expert of InvestorPO to offer some of the best in class automation solutions and services for real estate entrepreneurs who want to scale their businesses faster and easier than ever before. Plus, with two highly motivated visionaries leading the front, they can take the industry by storm with one common goal — to make RealEstateInvestor.com the all-solution provider of choice for real estate entrepreneurs across the nation. Gary’s Leadership style… When it comes to building and running a business, Gary believes in building on a foundation of rock. To him this means putting God first, leading through an upside-down model where the CEO is not at the top—but at the bottom serving, and building an authentically real team who reflect the values, culture, and mission of RealEstateInvestor.com. A personal look into Gary’s life… When Gary’s not working, he can be found enjoying life with his beautiful wife of 26-years and his two daughters. He has a passion for giving back through mentorship and loves to travel with his family. He’s an avid skier, rollerblade skater, and fly fisherman. When asked what his two greatest accomplishments were, his first response was helping to raise two beautiful, independent, and talented daughters. And second, being able to build an amazing business where his team is like his family, and his clients are his friends.