Team Spotlight – How to Avoid Landmines… with Coach Wilts Alexander

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!