Repealing Like-Kind Exchanges is a Bad Idea
Like-Kind Exchanges have been used in real estate transactions since their inception in 1921. While there’s opposition regarding these exchanges by those who see these as tax loopholes for the super rich, there are several good reasons as to why Like-Kind (1031) exchanges have remained a sound tax policy for close to 100 years.
Since repealing 1031 Exchanges has been a major topic of discussion in this year’s election, we thought it would be important to share more about this policy and how repealing it could negatively impact real estate entrepreneurs.
What are Like-Kind Exchanges?
While it’s referred to several ways, Like-Kind or 1031 Exchanges, were named after the Internal Revenue Service Code Section 1031. Exchanges allow real estate entrepreneurs to defer capital gains taxes on investments if the proceeds are reinvested in another property of equal or greater value.
There are restrictions real estate entrepreneurs must meet, however, which limits its use. To qualify, properties must be “like-kind” such as single family or multi-unit buildings. Real estate entrepreneurs cannot use an exchange on a personal residence or on personal property, and they must complete both transactions within a six-month period.
When real estate entrepreneurs can use an exchange and not have the immediate tax burden like with ordinary sales, they have more capital to spend. By nature of the policy restrictions, real estate entrepreneurs must match the value or upgrade the second property which in turn raises the tax liability due when it is finally disposed of through an ordinary, taxable sale.
Without exchanges, real estate entrepreneurs will be required to pay capital gains taxes when a sale occurs. This would reduce the amount of capital a real estate entrepreneur has to fund their next purchase. With less money to spend, we can expect transactions to be at lower values than if the tax was deferred.
Elimination of Like-Kind Exchanges will not raise more revenue.
Studies have proven that repealing Like-Kind Exchanges will not equate to the theoretical surplus of funds that some parties believe it would. (Some parties wish to repeal 1031 Like-Kind Exchanges in order to allocate the surplus of funds that will draw towards a proposed Care Plan.)
According to a 2015 study, The Economic Impact of Repealing or Limiting Section 1031 Like-Kind Exchanges in Real Estate by Professors David C. Ling and Milena Petrova from Universities of Florida and Syracuse, respectively, eliminating exchanges will not raise more revenue. In fact, we should expect less current tax revenue.
Why?
Smart real estate entrepreneurs will no longer make as many transactions as they do now. Instead, they will begin holding onto properties longer, and with fewer transactions, there will be less tax revenue, not to mention a reduction in other sectors impacting the US economy.
Like-Kind Exchanges are important to efficient operations of thousands of businesses in our country.
Contrary to what some people believe, Like-Kind Exchanges have a significant positive impact on many industries. However, opponents seem to forget who would be impacted the most if this policy were repealed.
Real estate transactions involve numerous people in the real estate sector, as well as within the community. According to the Ling-Petrova study, exchanges encourage real estate entrepreneurs to seek the best use of real estate which often leads to property improvements, employing contractors and laborers, increasing purchases of building materials and supplies, all of which stimulate the local economy.
It is a domino effect at its simplest form.
The transaction may begin with brokers and agents, but it involves appraisers, inspectors, mortgage lenders, title companies, insurers, attorneys and many more. Building improvements often lead to higher local taxes as well, further helping the community.
In the long run, repealing Like-Kind Exchanges will decrease demand for these positions and increase unemployment.
Real estate entrepreneurs don’t avoid taxes, they defer taxes with Like-Kind Exchanges.
Adversaries to Like-Kind Exchanges believe that real estate entrepreneurs will never pay taxes on real estate. But this could not be further from the truth.
For starters, real estate entrepreneurs can only defer capital gains taxes. They cannot avoid or eliminate taxes altogether. When the property eventually sells via an ordinary sale and not utilizing an exchange, tax will be due.
Opponents argue that real estate entrepreneurs rollover properties indefinitely, thus being the never-ending loophole opponents of this policy want to close. But the Ling-Petrova study contradicts the myth these adversaries support.
The study shows that 88% of properties acquired in an exchange were sold through a taxable sale, and not a subsequent exchange.
In fact, when an exchange property is sold through an ordinary sale, the tax liability is higher than if the real estate entrepreneurs didn’t use an exchange at all.
Like-Kind Exchanges benefits all real estate entrepreneurs—not just the wealthy ones.
Despite what you may have heard, you do not need to be super rich to benefit from Like-Kind Exchanges. As a matter of fact, real estate entrepreneurs and individuals alike have utilized exchanges in real estate transactions for years.
Middle-class Americans who purchase a rental property to support their income and build wealth for retirement are a large portion of the real estate entrepreneurs who would be impacted if this policy were repealed.
Small business owners have historically relied on exchanges when making decisions regarding their operations and facility. Having the ability to defer tax provides more cash flow enabling them to improve efficiencies to grow their business. And with growth, comes added jobs.
Without Like-Kind Exchanges, real estate entrepreneurs have less incentive to invest in real estate.
Repealing Like-Kind Exchanges will have a negative impact on the economy.
Without the ability to defer taxes, real estate entrepreneurs will pull back. We will see fewer transactions which will ultimately affect the workforce.
In the best of economic times, repealing exchanges would be challenged due to the negative impact on so many industries and professions. Jobs would be lost. Unemployment would rise.
But in today’s post-coronavirus recession, repealing exchanges would be a horrible idea, one that would devastate our economy beyond repair.
Simply put, Like-Kind Exchanges are good for the US economy.
As real estate entrepreneurs ourselves, RealEstateInvestor.com is not in favor of anything that eliminates 1031 Like-Kind Exchanges as this would negatively impact the amazing real estate entrepreneurs whom we have the privilege to serve.
Like-Kind Exchanges encourage investment and transactional activity which creates and retains jobs here in the US. By supporting Like-Kind Exchanges, we are supporting America and reinvesting in our future.
We encourage our members to do their own research on policies that threaten to repeal 1031 Like-Kind exchanges so that they can better understand where they stand on policies such as this one that is up for debate in 2020.
Resources Used:
https://www.financialpoise.com/like-kind-exchanges-4-myths-debunked/
https://1031x.com/biden-to-end-1031-like-kind-exchanges/
https://www.1031taxreform.com/wp-content/uploads/FEA-ltr-to-Biden-Campaign-5-5-20-FINAL.pdf
*We Are Not Affiliated With Any Of The Above Websites. We Simply Used Data From These Resources In Research For This Article Only.
Voicemail Drops: Are They the Silver Bullets for Higher Closing Rates?
As we scale our investing businesses, automation has to become a crucial part of our operations, especially on the lead generation and marketing front. One of the most effective ways to scale our lead generation is through the use of voicemail drops.
On a lower level of business, we can get by with just calling people, but this is unsustainable as we grow. Voicemail drops can be as effective as actually having a conversation on the phone because they get to connect with us through our voices.
Including voicemail drops in our follow-up sequence significantly boosts our business and gives us more opportunities to build a deeper connection with our leads.
Where do voicemail drops fit into our 10X follow-up plan? How do they make our marketing feel more human and personal? In this episode, I talk about the power of using voicemail drops in our follow up.
A flawless follow-up machine has to include voicemail drops. If it doesn’t, we’re missing the boat and the opportunity to close more deals.
Robert Syfert
Watch the Full Episode Here:
Three Things We Learned
- Anytime you’re going to send a text message, you should be sending a voicemail within the same timeframe. It allows them to hear our voice and feel more connected with us even if we didn’t have an actual conversation with them.
- Respond to people using the phone number we originally contacted them with. They have to see the same number and talk to the same person who first reached out.
- The laws of voicemail drops differ from state-to-state. To be on the safe side, check with your TCPA attorney in your area to verify the restrictions and what you can do.
Team Spotlight – Arun Srinivasan
To say RealEstateInvestor.com’s Marketing Director, Arun Srinivasan is a marketing guru is an understatement. With fifteen years of experience helping corporate clients leverage their digital marketing strategies, Arun has been an important part of our marketing team since 2017.
But a position in marketing was not what young Arun dreamed of when he was a child. Arun, who grew up in Anchorage, Alaska joked about how his parents of course wanted him to go into either medicine or engineering when he grew up. And since his sister became a doctor, he went the engineering route.
Having looked at colleges in the lower forty-eight states, a phrase Alaskans use often, Arun settled in the San Diego area after graduating from Cal Poly. He spent several years working as a computer engineer but recognized it was not his passion.
Arun, who considers himself creative, tells us he fell into marketing at that time. After reading about a man who posted articles online and made money selling ads, Arun started a blog with an interesting topic. With a focus on teaching men how to be better at meeting women, the blog took off. While Arun claims it was never crazy popular, he admits to having at least one post, The Power of Being Social, go viral which led him to publish an eBook on the subject.
I’m not an active investor. I’m not into the creative financing options or flipping homes, like many of my other team members do. I bought a couple of places and rented them out for cash flow.What Arun Loves About Working At RealEstateInvestor.com Working for a company with passionate visionaries is one of the best things about working at RealEstateInvestor.com according to Arun. The passion our visionaries have and share with their team is important to Arun, who appreciates that they are not only focused on how each person fits into their role within the company but whether they are happy doing so. We agree with Arun as this personal interest taken by leadership has proven that RealEstateInvestor.com is people-centric, part of our important company values.
I love the passion we get from our visionaries Gary , and from the top down. Everybody is super interested in not only growing the business but cultivating the team. This doesn’t mean making sure everyone has a title. Instead, the goal is to make sure that each team member has a role and responsibilities that fit into the machine we are building, and that we are happy doing what we do. – Arun Srinivasan, Marketing Director at RealEstateInvestor.com shares.An Interesting Marketing Tip From Arun… When asked if Arun had marketing advice for our members, he told us to test ideas. Results are often unpredictable, but most ideas are worth testing. “Whatever ideas you want to roll out, test them. You never know until you see what people react to. Sometimes bad-looking ads perform better than professional looking ones.” Arun shares. So there you have it… Sometimes those funny-looking ads with pictures that look like they were candidly taken with a cell phone actually outperform the professional ones. So if you ever run across one of our ads with a candid pic like Gary wrestling, you’ll have that extra insight on why we chose it.
The creative, personal side of Arun.
Besides playing cello, guitar, and piano, Arun loves to travel, stating Costa Rica as his favorite destination. While the recent pandemic has limited vacation options, Arun enjoyed a long weekend in Yellowstone recently, which was his first visit to Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho.
As a former tennis instructor, Arun also enjoys sports and working out, which he has missed during the recent closures. However, this has given him time to practice his cooking skills. Arun tells us he frequently makes dinner for himself and girlfriend, whose compliments have encouraged him to cook more often. Hmm… Sounds like that may have been part of her marketing strategy!
People, Innovation, Accountability
Our mission at RealEstateInvestor.com isn’t just a catchy tag line, it’s what guides everything we do here. Investing in growing talent like Arun Srinivasan is just one way that we show our dedication to growing an amazing company culture. We’re grateful to have someone like Arun as an integral part of our team!
3 Keys To Building A Team You Actually Trust
As you grow your business, it becomes critical to build a team around you that allows you to focus on the most productive use of your time. For this, we need to bring in the right kind of talent and if we want to hire and retain the best people, there are certain pieces that need to be in place first.
Without these pieces, it’s hard for the people we hire to succeed and help us achieve our business goals.
Why is it so important for us to have standardized procedures in our operations? What are the key metrics we need to focus on? How do we hold the people we hire accountable? In this episode, I discuss the 3 critical pieces your business needs to have so you can scale a trustable team.
If you don’t know your metrics, you won’t know what’s actually making you money.
Robert Syfert
Watch the Full Episode Here:
Three Things We Learned
- Don’t wait to hire until you have problems and fires to put out. If you’re prepared, you’ll be able to spot a trend fast and hire people early.
- You already have a way you run your day and things you do everyday in your business. That is your system, it already exists. If you document it, a hire can be trained on it.
- If we bring in people without systems, processes and metrics, we’re putting them into a chaotic environment. They won’t succeed and they won’t last.
Ready to discover the power of a 40 person marketing & sales team…WITHOUT having to hire a single person? To learn more, hear what members are saying, and see if you’re qualified, visit RealEstateInvestor.com.
Why You Don’t Need More Leads
If you’re an active real estate investor looking for a way to scale, your first thought is to invest in more lead lists, and turn onto the next marketing channel. If you have a database or CRM, you don’t necessarily need more leads; there’s a ton of business already available to you that you can tap into.
The truth is, many investors drop the ball when it comes to lead follow up, so we might be missing out on the gold that’s already in front of us. Going back and refreshing these leads is a highly productive activity.
Where do we look for these leads and how do we reactivate them? In this episode, I share how to quickly and easily increase your leads without investing in new ones.
Reactivating and re-engaging with older leads in your database is the best list you’ll ever buy.
Robert Syfert
Watch the Full Episode Here:
Three Things We Learned
- If you haven’t automated your outreach, you probably have many leads sitting in your CRM waiting for follow-up. These are the names you need to start re-engaging with.
- Old leads in our databases are people who have already expressed interest at some point. That means we’re already in conversation with them, so we don’t have to ask them to opt in again.
- Our databases are going to have people we didn’t follow up with, people no one has been in contact with or people who weren’t ready to sell before and are ready now. That’s why we have to re-engage with them consistently as their needs change.
Ready to discover the power of a 40 person marketing & sales team…WITHOUT having to hire a single person? To learn more, hear what members are saying, and see if you’re qualified, visit RealEstateInvestor.com.
The Most Efficient and Cost-Effective Source for Warm Leads
Real estate investors have their pick of multiple lead sources, channels and ways to get in contact with homeowners, but when it comes to finding motivated leads, not all are created equal.
If we want a business that will give us freedom, financial abundance and long-term steady results, direct mail should be in our arsenal. The reality is, direct mail will always be king. It’s efficient, has less downsides, and has the potential to cut our marketing work in half.
What are the advantages this method has over the other trendier models? How can we do effective direct mail without a massive budget? In this episode, we discuss the marketing channel that puts us in front of the most motivated leads.
With any type of advertising where the contact is inbound, they are asking you for help, not the other way around.
Robert Syfert
Watch the Full Episode Here:
Things We Learned
- With any form of marketing that is an outbound effort you have to reach out to people and hope they respond. With direct mail, you’re putting out a message so they reach out to you.
- After direct mail, the next best lead is the one that’s already in our database. Those are the people we need to re-engage and follow up with consistently.
- Direct mail is one of the best channels in terms of it’s return-on-investment. Even if the leads aren’t ready today, they are the ones most likely to call us back.
- The more super-niched you get in your lists, the less budget you have to put behind direct mail.
Ready to discover the power of a 40 person marketing & sales team…WITHOUT having to hire a single person? To learn more, hear what members are saying, and see if you’re qualified, visit RealEstateInvestor.com.
Shawn Kostoff
Having taught special education in middle school for more than 11 years, Shawn Kostoff decided to pursue real estate investing part time in 2015 after reading Rich Dad Poor Dad.
Being an entrepreneur was not new to Shawn Kostoff who tells us he grew up with a father who was an entrepreneur. Having seen the ups and downs that he went through as a business owner, Shawn decided to seek a more consistent line of work. So he earned a degree in education, and has been a Special Education Teacher ever since.
While Shawn loved teaching very much, he recognized that education wouldn’t provide the financial independence he desired.
In 2015, Shawn began real estate investing after reading Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki and Sharon Lechter. After that, he took a few classes, did some marketing, and dove into wholesaling part-time.
Business was slow to say the least, and Shawn admits that he wasn’t consistently dedicating money to marketing, which made investing opportunities sporadic at best. But, after months of trying to learn and practice wholesale real estate investing, Shawn found his first seller. He told us the home was a “rundown house on a dead-end street.”
After that, he was on the hunt for a buyer…
Shawn made a few calls, participated in meetups, and networked in order to find connections with buyers who might be interested in fixer upper properties. However, funny enough, he ended up locating a buyer on the basketball court — a friend he would shoot hoops with.
After closing on that first deal and making $10,000, Shawn was on his way and determined to keep going after this new dream of his.
That set me on the path. I realized ‘it works.’ I just needed to figure out a way to make it work for me. Shawn shared when talking about how he was successful at closing his first wholesale real estate deal while still working his full-time teaching job.
But, life has a way of interrupting well-made plans…
If anything, this year has taught us all that life has a way of mixing things up.
For Shawn, this meant postponing his real estate investing career… For good reasons of course.
In 2016, Shawn married his wife who’s also a teacher. From there they had many “firsts” together. They then moved to Delaware, where both of them took new teaching positions at a charter school. They even bought their first house together— a ‘fixer-upper’ that he and his wife renovated to make their home. And to top everything off, they welcomed their first child together in 2017, a son.
When Business “Sputters Along.”
Even though real estate investing wasn’t his priority at the time, it was always top of mind for Shawn.
Once all of the new changes settled down some, Shawn said things fired up again later that year. Even though he was still teaching, he still found time and ways to locate properties and buyers. He placed ads, made cold calls, and kept lists. He sent out a few mailings when he had extra money, and managed to set up 2 deals that he closed in the early part of 2018.
Despite the new deals, as Shawn put it, he “sputtered along” in his business. He didn’t have a strategy for marketing or follow-up, and without consistency, his results were low.
Around that same time, Shawn heard of RealEstateInvestor.com. He let us know during his interview that he kept his eye on us while trying to pursue investing on his own throughout the latter part of 2018.
After learning more about us at an event, and talking to our team, Shawn felt fairly confident that Realestateinvestor.com held the potential answer to his issue with consistency in his business. He also saw how our Managed Services would allow him to have the time freedom he desired and needed as a full-time teacher, a new husband, and a new dad.
After mapping out how much our Managed Services would cost, the marketing budget he’d need to invest to get the leads to pay for it, and estimating the ROI he could achieve if sellers were screened and sent ready to book an appointment with him, Shawn was convinced that he needed to give us a shot. So he made a plan to sign on with us after he closed his next deal…
The Difference “Done For You” Makes…
Shawn’s “next deal” was a longer sales process than usual, taking one year from the initial conversation with the buyer to the point he was finally ready to sell. And soon after Shawn closed that deal, he became a Managed Services Member with us at RealEstateInvestor.com.
Shawn shared with us that joining RealEstateInvestor.com in the middle of 2018 was one of the best decisions he ever made. Suddenly he had leads coming in and all he had to do was make the calls and close the deals.
Having “done for you” services was a game changer for Shawn. No longer did he have to worry about marketing, finding sellers, cold-calling, inbound call answering, talking to tire kickers, getting hung up on, the list of benefits goes on…
I had the leads coming in. I had everything I needed. It was a matter of doing it at that point. And since my money was on the line every month, I had that built in accountability of consistently talking to sellers and closing deals to pay for it. And of course, making a profit was great. – Shawn shares in regards to our Managed Services Membership.
Shawn admits that he never felt successful closing just one deal a year when he was doing the marketing and everything else on his own. But, ever since he came onboard with us, he’s been closing one deal per month! He even kept this pace during the close down earlier in 2020 due to Covid.
Let’s See The Numbers!
We asked Shawn for a breakdown of what his deals looked like prior to joining our Managed Services. The numbers speak for themselves.
2014- Read Rich Dad, Poor Dad and started driving for dollars. (No Deals)
2015- Closed his first deal in the Spring and made $10,000. (2 Deals)
2016- The year of his first — lots of life changes. (No Deals)
2017- Fired business back up mid year, set up deals for 2018. (No Deals)
2018- Closed two deals early, and started working with a seller on a deal. (2 Deals)
January 2019 to June 2019- Closed that carry over deal. (1 Deal)
June 2019- Shawn used that deal assignment fee to sign up with our Managed Services.
July 2019- December 2019- Closed 8 deals Using our Managed Services! (8 deals!)
2020- Shawn has averaged at least 1 deal a month even during the pandemic. (Estimated to close 12 deals by year end, including 1 rental and 1 seller financed deal.)
You have to want it. – Shawn Kostoff shares about real estate.
What sets Shawn apart from many other people who decided to try real estate investing is that he has the drive and dedication to make wholesaling a success. These are two things that are consistent key success indicators that we see in our members, as well as others outside of our services in the industry.
Here’s what Shawn shared about this:
Everyone says they want to be their own boss, but then when it happens, you’re the only one holding yourself accountable.
And according to Shawn, you don’t need a fancy title or even a website to be a real estate investor. It simply comes down to doing the work.
Shawn Weighs In On His Predictions Of The Future Market…
Shawn and his wife live in Delaware, where the market is still going strong. According to him, properties in need of fixing up are going quickly once they hit the market, where they frequently have multiple offers.
The market here is still super-hot. There’s a low supply of properties right now, and a high demand for them. Shawn shares in regards to what he’s seeing in the market right now during the late summer months in Delaware.
Shawn recognizes that the market could change quickly especially for people who are currently taking advantage of unemployment benefits. Once that runs out, Shawn predicts there could be an oversupply of properties as people begin selling their homes.
Today, however, that’s not the situation.
Does Shawn have plans to pivot his strategy as the market changes?
The short answer is “yes.”
Shawn tells us he will continue wholesaling and will consider ‘buy and hold’ properties as the market shifts. He also told us he has a network of private investors and will look at creative financing options as well.
We are playing out several scenarios… trying to decide if it makes sense to buy cheap and rent, or continue wholesaling. I’ll steer away from fix and flip properties. I’m more of a fast nickel or slow dime investor. – Shawn Kostoff shares his investment strategy as the market changes.
What Does Shawn Love About Our Managed Services?
We asked Shawn what’s his favorite thing about our services.
Emphatically, Shawn said,“it works.”
Your Managed Services have been a saving grace for my business. – Shawn Kostoff shares on having RealEstateInvestor.com support.
Having done all the legwork himself in the past, Shawn has an appreciation for the behind the scenes tasks that our team does to get the real leads into investor hands.
Without having to worry about direct mailings or software, Shawn can focus on talking to sellers and finding more deals to close.
I love how hands off the day-to-day aspect of it is. I don’t have to worry about the backend stuff or about pulling lists. I don’t have to worry about mailing postcards or letters. I don’t have to worry about technology or the software part of it. RealEstateInvestor.com’s Managed Services allows me to do the important stuff… The stuff that I actually want to do. I want to talk to the sellers and close deals. That was the biggest thing holding me back before. Now it’s game on. – Real Estate Investor Shawn Kostoff shares.
The RealEstateInvestor.com Difference And Advice From Shawn.
While Shawn recommends new investors jump in and become Managed Service Members since he knows it works, he also cautions investors to be prepared to do the work. Here’s what he says:
It’s not an easy, get-rich-quick thing. People aren’t throwing their houses at you at huge discounts. But it’s not complicated, either. If you follow the steps, do the work, and are consistent, you’ll have success.
Shawn noted how he had gone into the membership thinking he would only talk to our team leaders about how his business was doing once every few months here at RealEstateInvestor.com.
But, that isn’t the way we do things. After all, we only have success if our members succeed.
Shawn tells us that RealEstateInvestor.com really over delivered, boasting how he talks to his team lead more frequently than once a quarter for account reviews. In fact, they jump on calls, review numbers, and he gets the answers he needs as often as he needs.
Our Member Success Directors are real estate investors themselves, and they’re always willing to give advice, tips, and they’re ready to share what’s working in other areas around the country. If they don’t have an answer, they keep going until they find it.
Ultimately, everyone on our team truly cares about helping our members succeed.
This sometimes even means turning down prospective members if they’re misinformed about what we offer, or if we can see that they won’t succeed with us. Typically this is if someone is looking for easy money, and not willing to put in the work.
We don’t offer any false illusions or get rich quick schemes here. After all, the last thing we want is to have someone sign on as a member, close zero deals while using our services because they aren’t working them, waste their money, and then be mad at us. We’re very honest and forthright when it comes to that, and those are some of the many things that Shawn appreciates about our services.
They really care. I’m super happy with the services. – Shawn shared when closing our interview call.
Finding Financial Independence Is In Shawn’s Future.
When Shawn’s not teaching or working on his real estate business he loves playing outdoors with his two children and spending time with his wife.
What does the future look like for Shawn and his young family?
Shawn and his wife, who are both teachers with a growing young family have a goal to be financially independent. If Shawn can maintain one deal per month, they think they can reach their goal in the next few years.
Next year, Shawn says he expects to double his marketing budget and double his profits as well. This goal if hit would allow him to become a full-time real estate investor. From there, the sky’s the limit for Shawn and his family! And, with two children and a third child on the way, Shawn hopes to spend more time with his family, which looks very feasible at this point.
Shawn’s Future Is Bright, We Think Yours Will Be Too!
We want to thank Shawn for allowing us to put him in the spotlight this month. We have no doubt that he’ll reach his goal of financial independence and we plan to help him reach that goal of becoming a full-time real estate investor sooner rather than later.
If you’re interested in learning more about our products and services that can grow with you as your real estate business grows, we would love to start the conversation. We invite you to click on the bright green “Get Started” button at the top right corner here on our website. This will prompt us to set up a meeting with you and one of our member success team members can help you determine if our products or services are a good fit for helping you grow your business.
People, Innovation, and Accountability
The recent pandemic has given many companies a chance to pause, reflect on their success, strategize their future, and appreciate their staff. Doug, RealEstateInvestor.com’s integrator, did just that in a recent global team meeting. Read on to learn more about our new and improved vision for the future.
Earlier this year Gary Boomershine joined forces in a powerhouse merger driven by a unified vision to build the “complete solution” for serious real estate entrepreneurs who want to scale their business faster without sacrificing their time freedom. And during their recent global team meeting where a new Integrator stepped up, the company is further proving that they’re well on their way to do just that.
One Family, One Mission.
When two visionaries, an integrator, and an outstanding group of talented people get together, you ignite an unstoppable team, and a world class organization is born.
When Doug Lewis stepped into his position at RealEstateInvestor.com, he saw something much bigger than a products and service supplier for serious real estate investors. He saw People, Innovation, and Accountability, RealEstateInvestor.com’s core values.
The recent pandemic has given many companies a chance to pause, reflect on their success, strategize their future, and appreciate their staff. Doug, RealEstateInvestor.com’s integrator, did just that in a recent global team meeting.
Doug Lewis, who has been a firestarter with RealEstateInvestor.com since its inception, has emerged as integrator of the company’s core missions. In a recent global team meeting, Doug shared his vision of RealEstateInvestor.com’s future. The conversation was both informative and heartwarming, a true depiction of both Doug and the company’s transparent culture.
“We are on a journey to revolutionize the real estate investor industry.” – Doug Lewis shares when talking about the future of RealEstateInvestor.com.
According to Doug this journey begins with clarity. And with that, three key focuses were unveiled.
- People
- Innovation
- Accountability
Three simple, yet powerful words that will guide RealEstateInvestor.com in everything from hiring personnel to recruiting members, and in considerations for future products and services.
People first because people matter.
RealEstateInvestor.com’s most valuable asset is people. RealEstateInvestor.com is more than a group of talented individuals.
“It takes everyone across the board. And it wouldn’t be possible without everyone and without us living up to our core values, no matter what you do.” Doug shared.
According to Doug, RealEstateInvestor.com is a family. And when family is in need—regardless of what kind of need it is—RealEstateInvestor.com is there.
“You are my brothers and sisters, my friends, my family. If any one of you has pain, we are here. It is our core value that our family is taken care of.” Doug, reinforcing People First, which is one of RealEstateInvestor.com’s core values.
Doug reinforced the RealEstateInvestor.com family does not stop at those employed by the company. Family includes everyone RealEstateInvestor.com touches—customers and their customer’s customers, too.
Dedicated to Innovation.
With visionaries who are also investors, RealEstateInvestor.com’s leaders have a keen understanding of what is necessary to be successful in the market today, as well as what lies ahead, tomorrow. After all, it was their vision that set RealEstateInvestor.com apart in the first place.
What differentiates RealEstateInvestor.com from others is our world class CRM system combined with our Done-For-You-Service offerings. Our streamlined systems allow investors to focus on what is most important to them—closing deals. Having options for the experienced investor as well as the beginner, RealEstateInvestor.com has proven to be a leader in the real estate investment industry.
And we look forward to what the future holds.
Knowing what you are accountable for is critical.
Getting the job done often requires working as a team. No one is stuck in a single swim lane, according to Doug, who openly encouraged delegating work upward—to himself or RealEstateInvestor.com’s visionaries—when needed.
Unlike traditional companies where work only flows downward, RealEstateInvestor.com works together for the success of the team. At RealEstateInvestor.com, titles don’t matter— Roles do. This unique approach of putting the right people in the right roles is, in part, the philosophy of EOS—a strategy RealEstateInvestor.com has adopted which has allowed RealEstateInvestor.com to put quality and user experience at the utmost of importance.
“We will never sacrifice quality or user experience.” – Doug Lewis talking about the importance of customers.
Understanding their role and knowing they have the support of leadership and team members alike, individuals at RealEstateInvestor.com can flourish. In turn, reinforcing the RealEstateInvestor.com powerhouse.
Living the life you want to live.
At the end of the day, we all want a better life, according to Doug, who was thankful for what he has today. RealEstateInvestor.com makes that a viable option for real estate entrepreneurs and their global team.
And with our RealEstateInvestor.com family—our leaders, team members, customers, and customer’s customers—we can do just that.
People, Innovation, and Accountability. That’s what RealEstateInvestor.com is all about.
Team Spotlight – Shimpy Gaur
Shimpy Gaur is part of our global team based in New Delhi, India, where she’s held multiple roles over her six year tenure with us. Today she’s our lead admin in our finance and operations department where she assists our members with all of their billing needs. She brings with her more than fifteen years of diverse experience in operations, customer service, account management, and quality monitoring, making her a valuable part of our team.
Our team and our many members know Shimpy (who also goes by her nickname Sara) as a person who radiates positivity, helpfulness, and is friendly to everyone she gets the opportunity to interact with. One of the things she loves about working on our team is that she gets to work with many different people, including her husband Munish, whom she referred to us two years ago, helping us expand our global family, quite literally.
One of Shimpy’s other favorite things about working at RealEstateInvestor.com is that it affords her the opportunity to take on new roles and learn things that she might not otherwise get to learn if she didn’t work for a global company. Every day is different here and that’s exactly what she loves about it.
I love doing this job. It has never become monotonous for me. – Shimpy shares.
While we do have an office in New Delhi, India where Shimpy lives, her position allows her to work remotely from home like many people are doing this year. And with a 12½-hour time difference to the United States Pacific time zone, Shimpy often works well into the evening making working from home a huge workplace perk for her.
Learning More About Shimpy Gaur…
As a child, Shimpy wanted to be a doctor when she grew up because she wanted to help people, but as she progressed further along in her studies she ended up falling in love with numbers.
Opting to study accounting instead of science, Shimpy has been doing what she loves, helping people, and more specifically, RealEstateInvestor.com members.
I love helping people. I love talking to them. – She shares.
We asked Shimpy where she sees herself in five years and she shared that she sees herself working and growing with our company. With a genuine desire to grow her skillset and her career, she’s eager to take on more responsibilities as she continues to learn and grow in her career at RealEstateInvestor.com.
Since many of our team members are real estate investors themselves, we asked Shimpy if she’s had the opportunity to learn real estate investing and if she plans to utilize that knowledge in the New Delhi marketplace where she lives.
Shimpy let us know that there are a lot of differences between the U.S. Market and the market in India, but she’s still taking advantage of all she’s learning about real estate. Here’s what she shared on that:
Everything I’ve learned about real estate I learned from working at RealEstateInvestor.com and with our members. The training and what y’all do for members is unlike what we have here in our market. I feel like it’s definitely given me the opportunity to learn a skill set I wouldn’t have gotten elsewhere. I hope that one day Munish and I will be able to build some investments here in the future as well.
Sometimes getting involved in family business pays off…
Family is a big part of our “Why” behind what we do at RealEstateInvestor.com, and to Shimpy it’s equally as important. That’s why working beside her husband Munish Gaur, our Member Success Director, was a special opportunity for this couple.
While Shimpy and Munish have been REI colleagues for two years since he onboarded with us, they’re not new to working at the same company together. In fact, that’s exactly how they met 13+ years ago when they worked together for a different company. Riding in the same carpool and working together gave them time to build a friendship and as Shimpy put it, they were quite “impressed with each other.”
How did this couple end up dating you might ask?
Well, that’s a funny story…
Shimpy had mentioned Munish a few times around her family throughout the course of them working together. Enough so that her mom decided the two would need a bit of a push…
With a desire to see her daughter happy and settled down, Shimpy’s mother, and personal matchmaker so it seems, secretly searched Shimpy’s phone contacts to get Munish’s phone number unbeknownst to Shimpy. Her mom later contacted Munish to make a behind the scenes introduction, and the rest became history.
Shimpy shared that she should have known something was going on with the strange question Munish asked her one day when carpooling to work while they were still “just friends” and co-workers.
Munish had asked her if he should get her mother a gift if they ever met in person. This of course confused Shimpy briefly, but Munish quickly realized what he let slip and swiftly changed the subject.
It wasn’t until later that Shimpy learned about her mother intervening. Turns out, her mom had spoken to Munish multiple times and the family had even met with him and interviewed him well before Munish even asked Shimpy on their first date!
The interview went well of course!
More in love with each other today than when they first got married thirteen years ago, both Munish and Shimpy are grateful for her mother’s secret matchmaking.
Everything happens for a good reason. Shimpy shares the exact same sentiment that her husband shared with us during his team spotlight interview.
Shimpy considers herself fortunate to have found a partner with similar interests as hers and one her family adores. She jokes how her family might even love Munish more than they love her. (We doubt that!)
Becoming new parents on the brink of a major pandemic…
During our interview Shimpy shared about becoming a new mom on the brink of a major pandemic.
Going back to her belief that everything happens for a good reason, Shimpy went into labor with her daughter a month early, which also happened to be a month before New Delhi issued COVID-19 Stay At Home orders.
While delivering a baby early was a little scary and quite a big surprise, she was grateful that her family got to meet her daughter, whom they affectionately call Cookie, at the hospital before the lockdown began.
What does Shimpy like to do in her spare time?
Shimpy, who has an energetic personality, loves to travel and is grateful Munish loves it as much as she does. She joked that they would not have lasted together if he did not.
For Shimpy, travel is also about learning the culture.
We love, love, love to travel! We don’t go on a vacation and rush it. We can’t cover a new city or state in a short amount of time, so we stay there for a month or several weeks at a time. That’s one of the best things about both being able to work remote from anywhere in the world. – Shimpy says.
When traveling, Shimpy says her laptop is always nearby. They prefer to spend a few weeks at a destination spot when they travel, opting to rent an Airbnb from other real estate investors around the world. This gives them the opportunity to truly experience the culture and enjoy their destination as well as keep on top of their work.
Shrimpy’s favorite destination is Macau, which is considered the Las Vegas of Asia. She admits that both she and Munish enjoy gambling and playing the slot machines, so when they travel to Macau they barely use their hotel room, opting to spend as much time in the casinos as they can.
Fortunately, lady luck is on their side because Shimpy and Munish have yet to walk away from a casino in the red, something that doesn’t happen much here in the states. With winnings every time, it’s no wonder this lucky couple loves to hit the casinos!
Besides traveling, Shimpy loves spending time with her family. With so many of their extended family members living nearby, celebrating holidays and special occasions together often turns into great celebrations that can last for days at times. From weddings that span across multiple days, to holidays and celebrations that draw captivated crowds from all over the world, Shimpy said that people know how to celebrate life in India.
Speaking of celebrations, Shimpy shared with us about the Raksha Bandhan celebration that took place a few weeks ago, a celebration that celebrates the bond of family, and the bond between brother and sister. During the festivities, the sisters in the family tie a band around their brother’s wrist, and the brother takes an oath to always support her whenever she’s in need.
This year marked Shimpy and Munish’s first celebration of this festival with their daughter Cookie. While they’re saddened that they didn’t get to experience the festival in it’s normal liveliness due to the coronavirus restrictions, their family still made the most of it. They even ordered a special traditional Indian dress and a tiara for Cookie to wear during their family celebration. They all looked quite stunning!
“Dream is not that which you see while sleeping, it is something that does not let you sleep.” —Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam (The 11th President of India)
We’ll close this spotlight article by sharing Shimpy’s favorite quote. This is a quote that Shimpy said she has followed in her day to day life consistently since 2010. Here’s what this daily mantra that Shimpy lives by means to her personally.
“This mantra speaks to me as I read it as having a goal in life that drives you towards achieving something meaningful. Something that makes an impact. I am passionate about my work and having a life where I am valued for what I do, while also having a wonderful life with my family at home. I have this on the top of my head all the time as it’s a mantra and goal that keeps driving me forward. I have literally followed this in my day to day life since 2010.”
Thank you Shimpy!
Thank you Shimpy for taking the time to open up and allowing us to spotlight you as one of our valuable tenured team members. We’re fortunate to have you as part of our team!
Tyler Amburn owner of Fast and Slow Investments
This Corporate Pilot’s Flyin’ High in Real Estate
Meet Tyler Amburn. Tyler is a corporate pilot, a real estate investor, and the owner of Fast and Slow Investments, a real estate investment group based out of Dallas, Texas. He’s also been one of our amazing members here at RealEstateInvestor.com since 2017.
Tyler was nice enough to allow us to interview him recently for a member spotlight article. So, keep reading to learn how he got started in this industry, what he thinks about our products and services, and learn how he was able to save more than $3,000 a month by utilizing our REIgnyte Grow Platform to replace several of the peripheral services he was using to run his real estate business.
On The Wings Of… Real Estate?
While Tyler’s aviation career has and always will be his dream job, he knew he would also need to build a diversified revenue stream to provide for his family financially during the down cycles that often hit corporate and commercial pilots hard.
When making the decision of where that revenue would come from, Tyler made the smart decision to dive into real estate. He said it was a no brainer decision since most of the clients he flew from meeting to meeting, or vacation home to vacation home, all seemed to be in real estate themselves.
Being successful enough to afford a private pilot was a bonus selling point for real estate in Tyler’s opinion. It would be something he could look forward to in his future. With one caveat of course… Tyler wouldn’t need to hire a pilot to fly him around since he can fly himself. In fact, he’s already gotten to do just that! (More on this in a bit…)
After getting some advice from several real estate entrepreneurs, Tyler decided to pay for a real estate investor coaching course and dive into looking for homes to flip.
From Grassroots Start-Up To Needing Something More…
During our interview, Tyler reminisced about his “grassroots” marketing plan in the early days of building his real estate business. It included knocking on doors and sending handwritten letters to Dallas area property owners, where he and his wife, Jennifer, live.
The homemade approach worked right out of the gate because three short weeks later, while still grasping the industry, Tyler got his first deal. He jokes about how that deal came in a lot quicker than he thought it would. So much so that he had to quickly research a training video to learn how to fill out the offer form before presenting it to the seller that same day.
Despite learning on the fly in those early months, he tells us he made $25,000 on that first transaction that he ended up flipping. This set the foundation for his real estate investment business.
The first seller I helped said they called us because they could tell our letter was hand written. My wife penned all of those letters by hand. After that, we kept going with that marketing approach, hiring high school and college students to write letters to sellers by hand at $.50 a piece. Tyler reminisces.
Six months later, Tyler and Jennifer mastered the DIY marketing process with the help of their hired team members. But it didn’t take long to grow tired of managing their lists, their writers, and their supplies. That along with keeping up with all of the other elements that come with running a full time real estate business was wearing on both of them…
After welcoming their first child a few years back, all while Tyler was flying full time and running the real estate business, both he and his wife realized that something had to give.
We quickly realized that managing all the contractors and the supplies, plus the marketing… that wasn’t something we wanted to be in. We needed to outsource that part of the business – Tyler shares.
That’s when he saw an ad for our Managed Services here at RealEstateInvestor.com. After a little research on us, he made the call.
The Making Of A CEO.
Tyler still remembers his call with Julia Jordan, our Senior Director of Member Success here at RealEstateInvestor.com.
Julia, if this is as good as you make it sound, then this solves all my marketing problems because I’m tired of managing lists. I’m tired of managing supplies and all that jazz. So we signed up. Tyler shares about making the decision to outsource the $10 per hour marketing jobs to us through our Managed Services so he could focus on building his real estate business.
That first year when Tyler made the leap to owning his role as the CEO of his company, and outsourcing his marketing and lead generation to us here at RealEstateInvestor.com, he ended up closing 18 wholesale deals! This was back in 2017.
The following year with us, he closed fewer deals, but what excited him was that his annual revenue didn’t drop at all!
In fact, he was closing bigger and better deals, which also meant he was freed up to fly more often, and more importantly, spend more time with his family.
He credits this increase in deals and revenue to the support he received from our team.
Taking Us Under Their Wings…
One of the benefits of RealEstateInvestor.com’s Managed Services is having a team to back you up and help you grow. The way we see it here is that we’re only successful if our members are successful.
A team is exactly what Tyler needed in early 2019 when his corporate pilot position was temporarily furloughed.
To Tyler, this meant that every penny brought in from his real estate investment business would need to count and cover more. This is when Tyler was able to see a different side of our business…
Tyler shared about how RealEstateInvestor.com founder Gary Boomershine consistently told members that if they needed help, all they had to do was ask him. So that’s exactly what Tyler did…
I went to Gary and said, Here I am… I need your help Tyler shares about going to Gary for help in growing his real estate business further, hoping to offset the lost revenue from his payroll as a corporate pilot.
Tyler wasn’t sure how or in what way Gary would help him above and beyond what was already being done by RealEstateInvestor.com. He was blown away by what happened next…
They’ve been so good to us at RealEstateInvestor.com. Gary and Julia and everyone there… They just took us under their wings. Gary was like, let me help you with some of these deals. We really want you guys to succeed. Tyler shared.
Gary took the time to talk through Tyler’s business goals with him, and even walked through his pending deals one by one, personally helping him negotiate better spreads from the sellers and buyers he was working with on some wholesale deals.
Tyler shared about one of the most impactful memories of this time being when Gary helped him with a complicated deal where an out of state seller was trying to help her in-laws sell their rental home to pay for her father-in-laws medical bills that had been piling up.
Throughout the course of several months, they had to figure out how to give the tenants notice to move, how to negotiate a power of attorney and a trust that was being challenged due to several medical conditions, and then they had to navigate the loss of her father-in-law during that waiting period.
It was an emotional mess and the seller had already been given the run around by another investor before she turned to Tyler to help pen the deal. But, both Gary and Tyler worked with her to help make it happen and negotiated a beneficial deal for all parties involved.
The seller was so grateful for their service that she offered to do a customer testimonial for Tyler’s business.
Gary recommended that Tyler take her up on the testimonial offer and suggested that he get on a plane to go film it, but Tyler had a different plan…
Tyler rented a plane and personally flew up to Kansas to meet the seller at the Title Company, making the closing easier for her.
Real Estate Investors Have The Opportunity To Make A Difference.
From Gary taking Tyler under his wings and helping him renegotiate and navigate a bigger deal, to Tyler sticking in there with the grieving seller and flying up to her state to finalize the deal… Both of these amazing real estate entrepreneurs are great examples of what it looks like to go above and beyond for customers. Something that real estate investors have the opportunity to do on a daily basis.
Tyler’s example with the seller in Kansas was also a great example of being patient with leads. You can’t assume that the deal isn’t going to happen if they don’t sell right away. Working with sellers is all about relationship selling, and that takes time. You can’t give up if a seller isn’t ready to move today, because they might be ready to move tomorrow or next month. Keep following up, being helpful, and it can pay off.
There’s so much value that a real estate investor can bring to the community. – Tyler Amburn shares.
Being in wholesale real estate hasn’t always been easy for Tyler. He recalls the ugly side of the business, having had doors slammed in his face before getting his message to homeowners facing foreclosure. But knowing he’s helping people has made investing as rewarding as it has been profitable.
Like with any sales career, there’s always the people who will talk trash to you. Tell you off, thinking you’re bottom feeders, scum of the earth, all because they don’t like that you called them or that they got your mailers. But it’s the people who you get to help avoid foreclosures, or bankruptcies, or offload a home of a loved one who passed away that makes all of the difference. We really are in this industry to help people. Sure, we want to make a healthy profit along the way. But, it’s the little things that we’re able to do for people that count. – Tyler shares.
Well said Tyler!
When You Can Be A Hero.
Not everyone opens up and tells you the entire situation they are in, but when they do, we might just get that opportunity to help a neighbor in our community. Tyler shares when noting a recent deal he made in Denton, Texas where an elderly homeowner admittedly she had no central heating unit.
During the inspection, Tyler realized that this elderly homeowner who was trying to sell her home due to financial concerns, was utilizing her stovetop on cold nights to provide her with heat. She was sleeping on a nearby couch in an effort to simply stay warm during the cold Texas nights.
With nights dipping below freezing on the regular, Tyler and his wife knew that stove wasn’t nearly enough to give her the warmth she needed. So they took it upon themselves to provide her with a space heater to get her through the cold nights until the closing of her home.
And that wasn’t all they did to help her…
This seller was trying to move into her daughter’s home to drastically cut her expenses back. When she requested an extended move out date of her existing home, Tyler dug a little deeper. He soon learned that her new home wouldn’t have a fenced-in yard, which would be a necessity for her in order to keep her dog safe from coyotes since it was out in the middle of the countryside. But, she couldn’t afford to build the fence until the sale was completed. Leaving her at a standstill.
As part of the deal, you always try to find what the issues are… Because they rarely tell you everything. So after you get down the road, there’s a roadblock… and oh, there’s another roadblock! – Tyler shares.
In this case, he had to dig deep to get to the real issue of why she was pushing her move out date further.
After understanding her problem, Tyler offered a solution and fronted her the money to build a fence at her daughter’s property. It was a win-win for everyone. The new owners were able to take occupancy immediately after closing, and the seller could safely move her pet into their new home.
Another great job Tyler!
Tyler is spot on about real estate investors having the opportunity to make a difference in their communities.
We Asked Tyler About What He Likes About Our Company…
RealEstateInvestor.com is different from other businesses out there…. Not everyone realizes that. And not all companies have the same philosophy. – Tyler shares, and continues by adding:
“RealEstateInvestor.com surrounds themselves with like-minded individuals. They’re good Christian people. There are a lot of gurus in this business, that are all about the hustle and the grind, but RealEstateInvestor.com provides support in many areas such as marketing and coaching, bringing even more value to their members. “
Thank you for the kind words Tyler!
Being different from many of the companies out there is a huge part of our corporate mission. Everyone on our team has a genuine heart to help real estate investors succeed in their businesses. We have many people working behind the scenes ready to help our members when they need it.
Does Tyler have any tips or recommendations for real estate investors?
Looking ahead at what this year might continue to bring with it, Tyler suggests that real estate investors start marketing more. Making connections and following up now will create relationships today that could turn into sales later.
Everyone is at a different point in the sales timeline. Some need more contact points before they are ready to sell. You have to have a system and process to follow up with them, and you should automate it with a platform like RealEstateInvestor.com’s Grow CRM… It’s taken me years to figure out that I was giving up way too early on my leads… You just never know where sellers are on the timeline, so automation is key.
According to Tyler, some sales cycles last a long time, noting he’s had some last several months. And with the current economic situation we are in, developing trust today is important down the road when prices drop and people are desperate to sell before they face foreclosures. Here’s what he shares about his prediction for the future market and how investors need to be prepared for it:
People will start fireselling their properties and then prices will likely drop. This makes investment profits greater for real estate investors who stay in the game, following up with their leads consistently and methodically.
We agree with Tyler. After all, historically this is a common occurrence when there’s events that shake the world and the economy.
Our REIgnyte Grow Platform makes the process of staying in touch with sellers easier for real estate investors.
It can even save investors a lot of their hard earned money…
Big Savings By Having A System That Does It All.
We’ll close Tyler’s spotlight article with the exciting news he shared with us. THIS was incredibly exciting for our team as this is one of the “why’s” behind what we do, and our future goals for our company.
By switching to RealEstateInvestor.com’s Grow Platform and Property List Manager from using multiple different peripheral vendors, I was able to save more than $3,000 per month! – Tyler shares enthusiastically.
Wowza!
That’s a savings of $36,000 a year!!! We were so surprised by this news that we actually waited a few months to share Tyler’s story. We wanted to make sure he calculated correctly, and it turns out he definitely did.
We asked Tyler if he would recommend our products and services to other real estate investors and here’s what he shared with us…
In today’s technology world, you don’t want to go to one site for one feature and link to another site for a different business need. That’s what makes REI the perfect platform. RealEstateInvestor.com is heads and shoulders over others… They really knocked it out of the park… They absolutely crushed it. – Tyler Amburn, Real Estate Investor, 3 Year Member With RealEstateInvestor.com.
