Investing In The U.S.

From making career switches to scaling a business, Mike Simmons shares some of the best and worst moments of his journey in this week’s episode. Join us as we provide some valuable insight into letting go of irrational fears, paving your way into the world of entrepreneurship, and scaling a business to where it needs to be. Mike Simmons is a real estate investor, public speaker, co-owner of the company Return on Investments, and the producer and host of the podcast Just Real Estate. Like many other late bloomer entrepreneurs, Mike didn’t get into real estate until he was in his mid 30s. Despite having a good income in his 20s, he realized that he couldn’t retire unless he put his money into investments, which eventually lead him to the world of real estate investing. But in spite of making the leap, Mike held onto this irrational fear of being judged by his friends and family for investing in real estate—until he and his wife started gaining success. A lot of us can relate to this; having irrational fears, being hesitant to start because of those fears, and ultimately letting those fears get to our heads. Mike has first-hand experience dealing with that, and his story may be just the thing to help you get started. Mike is also a best-selling author, having written the book Level Jumping wherein he educates others on how to scale their business. In this episode, Mike gives us a rundown on the most important steps or strategies in successful scaling, including documenting your processes, knowing your numbers, and building a team sooner rather than later. KEY TAKEAWAYS 1. Surround yourself with people who can motivate you to raise your game. 2. Don’t let irrational fears hold you back from starting your path to success. 3. Being an operator is very different from being a leader. 4. Other people won’t care as much for your business as you do. 5. Chances are, you have to start building a team sooner than later. 6. The first person you hire is for the job you suck at the most. LINKS https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikessimmons/ https://mikesimmons.com/juststartrealestate/ https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/just-start-real-estate-with-mike-simmons/id732855311

Karen Williams has made it out of the corporate rat race and is now helping thousands of other people do the same. Are you tired of feeling trapped in the same workday over and over again? Tune in to this episode where we talk about achieving true lifestyle freedom through real estate entrepreneurship. Karen is a full-time entrepreneur, traveler, and co-founder of the Global Investor Alliance, an investor group that helps investors find a way out of the rat race by investing in real estate and agriculture. Together with her husband, Peter, Karen provides real estate education to all kinds of investors, starting from the rookies up to the experienced entrepreneurs. Having worked in the corporate world before and experienced the disastrous 2008 recession first-hand, Karen is no stranger to the fear of having no security. This is the main reason why she has made it her mission to living the best and most authentic life that she can—all while helping others do the same. Join us on this extremely insightful episode as we talk about finding your way out of the rat race, achieving freedom through multiple income streams, and how to leverage those income streams in the most optimal ways possible. We also touch on real estate agriculture, particularly in Latin America, and the benefits of investing in agricultural land. So, whether you are a corporate worker looking for an out or a novice investor searching for another worthy asset class, you can learn a lot from what Karen has to say. KEY TAKEAWAYS 1. Discipline is a key to success. 2. One of the best ways to buy back your time is to create as many income streams as possible. 3. It’s not always about the money, it’s the freedom to live your life the way you want and help other people in the best ways you can. 4. An ever-present curiosity is an important asset for an entrepreneur. LINKS https://www.linkedin.com/in/kekewilliams https://www.globalinvestoralliance.com/

It can take a lot of ‘no’s before you can get your first ‘yes’. Brian Adams is someone who is well aware of this, and in this episode, he shares with us some valuable insight on how you can get that ‘yes’ faster by perfecting your pitch—plus how you can keep those investors once you gain their trust. Brian Adams is a recovering attorney from a family office background with vast experience in law, real estate, and private equity. Today, he is the president founder of Excelsior Capital, a Nashville-based real estate private equity sponsor that focuses on undervalued assets in secondary markets. With the knowledge and experience he has amassed in the industry, Brian is one of the best people to offer advice on how you can get into the real estate or private equity business without making the same mistakes he did. In this informative interview, we talk about how you can build your as you’re trying to start your business with OPM (Other People’s Money). Despite receiving a lot of ‘no’s at the start of his career, Brian has learned the best strategy to perfect your pitch with an empathetic standpoint, and he shares just how you can do this yourself to finally get that highly coveted ‘yes’. Besides that, we also talk about how he maintains good communication with his investors (and how he messed that up as well), which can help you gain their trust and create a stronger relationship outside of that particular deal. KEY TAKEAWAYS 1. Pitch first to the people who are the most unlikely to give you money, then ask for honest criticism; work on your pitch before you pitch to your best prospects. 2. Find out what people’s problems are, then pitch what you can do to solve them. 3. No one cares about your resume; stop telling potential investors where you went to college, they don’t care. 4. One of the biggest mistakes you can make is not having an internal controller. 5. To establish good relationships with your investors, you need trust, communication, and transparency. LINKS https://www.excelsiorgp.com/brian-adams/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/brian-c-adams

What we have in store for you this week is an eye-opening episode with none other than Ron Brooks, who is here to talk to us about addressing the community’s financial plights at the grassroots level. Listen as we go over how he compels banks to protect seniors from fraud, helps the disadvantaged become homeowners, and connects people with the resources that they need. Ron “Champ” Brooks Jr. is a real estate investor, a former banking executive with 18 years of experience, the owner of the 2nd black-owned co-working business in the world, and the host of The Minding Your Business Podcast. Today, he devotes his career to compelling banks to serve low to moderate-income communities better—and ultimately serve themselves—by protecting the elderly, investing in driving revenues, and reducing expenses. And not just for the black community, but for everyone else as well. In this inspiring interview, we talk about why empathy is the core of community-building, whether it be through real estate investing or making housing loans more accessible, and what elements come into play when creating something that benefits everyone. Ron is someone who fully understands that banks and other financial institutions aren’t motivated to do something if there’s nothing in it for them, and he is a master at having these institutions realize that helping the community will also be beneficial for them in the long run. There is a lot to unpack in this extremely uplifting episode, so don’t miss out if you want to know how you can give back—whether it’s by tackling financial issues in your own community at the grassroots level, or by helping other people acquire homes through real estate investing. KEY TAKEAWAYS 1. You can learn a lot about a community by spending time with the people. 2. The elderly are at the biggest risk for financial fraud and they need protection against it. 3. When you want to restructure or improve a community, don’t contribute to gentrification. 4. As real estate investors, we can only truly give back to the community when we treat people with empathy rather than just seeing them as sources of income. LINKS https://www.champronbrooks.com/ https://twitter.com/Champ_Ron_?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-minding-your-business-podcast/id1270984117

This week, we have David Dawkins with us to share his valuable insights into business development and all the nitty-gritty of it. In this episode, learn how you can achieve wealth through real estate, simplify your business as much as possible, and get into the right mindset to fast-track success. David Dawkins is the founder and owner of Seven Bridges Realty Group LLC, a brokerage and proper management assistance firm that helps buyers and sellers make the most out of their investments. He is also the co-host of the podcast The Professional Investor, where he teaches others how to become full-time real estate investors and take control of their lives by mastering personal finances. Through his own experience of working in the corporate world before going into real estate, David offers us invaluable advice on how to start investing when you have zero experience and are working a 9-5 job. By creating a business that supports other businesses, he has achieved a higher level of financial gain despite being a former executive-level employee in his old company—and more importantly, has created a means to build financial wealth on his own terms. Today, he is on a mission to share his experience-based advice with everybody. Listen as we talk about the intricacies of building a business from scratch, including what kind of mindset that you should start with, how to make your business processes as simple as possible, and how you can downsize operational expenses as you grow. Furthermore, we delve into the importance of continuous learning in business development, and why you should learn to do things on your own first instead of taking shortcuts. KEY TAKEAWAYS 1. Eliminate, automate, then delegate. 2. Simplify your business as much as possible. 3. Leverage technology to make your business processes easier. 4. Don’t be afraid to do things yourself when building your business. 5. As your business grows, your expenses should be decreasing as you take in more costs in-house. LINKS https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-dawkins-75416962 https://www.realmlshomesforsale.com/Office/SEVENBRIDGESREALTYGROUPLLC-690882 https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-professional-investor/id1490111139

Sean Sparkman is a real estate and financial advisor on a mission to help people protect their savings and grow their wealth along the way. He is also the host of The Safe and Sound podcast, a show where he educates listeners on how to create a safe and sound lifestyle, covering topics from personal finance and entrepreneurship to relationships and health. In this episode, we dive into how you can keep your money safe against market corrections and inflation—something that has become more emphasized with the economic effects of the pandemic. Sean, with his extensive experience working in the annuity world, shares his knowledge on how to make money stretch for a long time, particularly the strategies on how to work with what you’ve accumulated and create different income streams from it. We also talk about how the COVID situation has affected the financial advising industry, and we’re glad to find out that people at home are using the pandemic as an opportunity to learn about protecting their money. Sean is an amazing source of knowledge that we’re lucky to experience today, so if you want to start safeguarding your money and your future, this episode is one you wouldn’t want to miss. KEY TAKEAWAYS Whatever business you’re in, what matters most is the people around you. When you can give more value to people than what they can give to you, that’s when you’re making a difference. Making sacrifices now can help you maximize your income after retirement. LINKS https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/with-sean-sparkman/id1488975372 http://www.safeandsoundretirement.net https://annuity.com/meet-sean-sparkman/

Keith Baker is with us here this week to share his wealth of knowledge on private money lending and real estate investing. Keith is the co-founder of Asset REI, LLC, a company that finances buyers and investors that are neglected or overlooked by the too-big-to-fail banks, providing them with investment opportunities that they would otherwise fail to get. He is also the host of The Private Lending Podcast where he helps listeners achieve financial freedom through alternate investing, truly committed in sharing his knowledge with others to help them succeed. Keith is no stranger to hard work, having worked in fast-food restaurants, oil fields, construction, and a lot of other jobs in between. He changed the course of his career by taking a leap of faith and converting his 401(k) into a self-directed IRA, which he used to start private lending. For this episode, he shares some valuable tips for listeners who want to do the same and finally start investing in real estate or becoming a private lender themselves. We talk about how Keith chooses the people he lends to, the type of investors that he learned from when he was just starting out, and the difference between hard money lenders and private money lenders. Having made a lot of mistakes in the past, Keith also shares some of the things that YOU should avoid when starting in this type of business, especially with a self-directed IRA—otherwise known as your retirement funds! If you’re one of the many people who don’t know where to start with private money lending or real estate investing using your SDIRA, this is an interview you wouldn’t want to miss. KEY TAKEAWAYS 1. When trying to learn from other real estate investors, look for the people with gray hair. 2. Start with a conservative approach to keep yourself safe until you can learn how to invest successfully without getting into danger. 3. Trust and transparency are key in real estate relationships. 4. In private lending, relationships are more personal. LINKS http://privatelenderpodcast.com/

For this week’s episode, I have a fellow ex-pat with me to share his journey from working in Dublin to investing in real estate properties in the US. Colin Murphy is an Irish investor who has been investing in Tampa, Florida since 2009. With over $100 million raised and more than 350 fix & flips in Tampa at only 40 years old, Colin is one of the most promising young real estate investors in the market today. In this exclusive interview, Colin shares his journey from selling real estate in unique places like Bulgaria, Lithuania, and Belize—to promoting properties and selling flips in Tampa, Florida. Despite the fact that he started his career in marketing, Colin has made a name for himself and his company, CGM Investment Group, in the local and international real estate market. He tells us all about the steps he took to get to where he is today, which can definitely give you an idea of where you can start in this type of industry, especially as a foreigner. Colin also tells us about his company’s integrity; how they have managed to only offer good deals to people, and why doing so is incredibly important for reputation. He also shares some insight into turning active income into passive income, which is something that he advises other businesses to focus on from the get-go. If you want to learn more about Colin and his journey from promoting properties to selling them, tune in to this week’s episode and don’t forget to check out the links below. KEY TAKEAWAYS 1. You have to care for your reputation, especially as a young company. 2. One of the main goals of business is to turn active income into passive income. 3. Having quiet time by yourself is vital to work on your business and your personal goals. 4. Maintaining integrity is imperative for a business's reputation. LINKS https://www.linkedin.com/in/colingmurphy www.colininvestments.com

This week’s episode is a little longer than usual, but that’s because we have an amazing source of knowledge with us this week. For this episode, we have Max Reinbach III sharing fascinating stories about his journey to property management, his best practices in multifamily property management, and a few important statistics about the real estate scene in Austin, Texas during these uncertain times. Max started building his amazing work ethic from a very young age. As a country boy who had his first taste of work in the fields of his father, Max had a long way to go before becoming part of one of the most successful property management companies in the state. Today, he is the Senior Vice President of Roscoe Property Management and has helped the business grow from ten thousand properties to a whopping forty thousand in the course of his career. Max shares his best practices that helped him get to where he is now. We talk about the importance of the people directly managing properties and why they are critical assets in any property management company. We delve into how the mindset of partnership can help create lasting relationships with clients. Moreover, we talk about how Roscoe Property Management manages to keep the business afloat during these uncertain times. If you’re thinking about investing in Austin or perhaps interested in learning more about multifamily property management, listen to this episode and let Max and I share some valuable industry knowledge with you. KEY TAKEAWAYS 1. People that are managing properties directly are the most important assets to a property management company. 2. When creating new relationships with clients, go into it with a mindset of partnership. 3. Property management can feel like a thankless job—but at the end of the day, someone has to do it. 4. Customer service and communication are two key aspects of property management. LINKS https://www.linkedin.com/in/maxreinbach https://www.rpmliving.com/

With all the honors that Jennifer Anderson has managed to rake in for herself and her team under the age of 40, it’s pretty safe to say that she is the best at what she does—and that is helping others make the best-informed decisions on real estate. Jennifer Anderson is the CEO of Anderson Coastal Group, a team of professionals committed to educating and empowering both buyers and sellers in real estate. With their outstanding customer service and professionalism, Anderson Coastal Group was recognized as one of the top 20 real estate teams in the county by the San Diego Business Journal, all made possible by Jennifer’s leadership. However, the path to success wasn’t easy. In this exclusive interview, Jennifer shares her struggles with dyslexia as a child and how that made it difficult for her to succeed in school. Despite this, however, she pursued her entrepreneurial calling as it led her through many different jobs (from bussing tables to property management) before it got her to where she is now. With the lessons that her early struggles taught her, Jennifer tells us how she manages to help so many people understand and be more confident about their decisions, whether they are buying or selling properties. She takes us through her process and how it helps her educate others and make them feel more in control of their choices. And if you want to do the same for your clients, you definitely won’t want to miss out on this episode. KEY TAKEAWAYS - What we struggled with as kids can turn into our strengths as adults. - Building a great team means putting people in the right spot based on their strengths. - Look at your big long-term goals, then scale back to find out what you need to do today to achieve them. - Regardless of your industry, helping people make the right decisions can forge loyal relationships. LINKS https://www.andersoncoastalproperties.com/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesrealestatecouncil/people/jenniferanderson1/#39e890d56de7 https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifer-b-anderson-808a8869 https://www.facebook.com/AndersonCoastalGroup/

We’re back with the second part of our fifth-anniversary special! On this week’s episode, let’s take a look at another five of our best episodes with the most influential guests on Investing in the US. Join us as we look back at our inspiring interview with Vinney “Smiley” Chopra, a down-to-earth investor who came to the US from India and built a massive syndication business from nothing; as well as our talk with Frank Roessler, the man who started from zero units to over ten thousand in an amazingly short span of five years. We also bring back our talk with Kevin Bupp, who shares his journey in mobile park home investing and how he manages a wide range of businesses and endeavors in his life. Let’s not forget about Daniel Priestly, author of Key Person of Influence, and how his strategies have allowed him to help entrepreneurs and other businesses reach their goals. Lastly, we take a look back at our episode with Trevor McGregor, where he talks about the best pillars of success as an entrepreneur, and how to overcome the fears that are holding you back from living your best life. We’ve come a long way in the past five years, and this episode is a way to thank you for being part of our journey. If any of these snippets inspire you to re-listen to the whole episode, don’t hesitate to check out our archives and relive some of the best moments of the podcast. KEY TAKEAWAYS 1. Giving employees fair compensation and incentives builds morale and inspires them to work harder for you. 2. Be careful about the people you hire to manage your assets. 3. If you’re in business development, learn from companies that are outside of your industry 4. Be consistent about your identity in all of your roles in life. 5. Stop worrying about the future and focus on the now. If these highlights inspire you to give our previous episodes another go, check out our archive today. Thank you for helping Investing in the US reach its fifth anniversary!

For the fifth anniversary of Investing in the US, we’ve compiled the top ten highlights from some of the best episodes on the podcast. Let’s take a trip down memory lane and re-listen to David Osborne as he talks about how he built an ecosystem out of different income streams to create long-term wealth, and Keith Wasserman as he shares the habits that helped him build a real estate company worth over a billion dollars. We’re also bringing back our interview with Glen Carlson where he talks about the power of a personal brand and how businesses can ratify themselves against the competition. This episode also has one of the best snippets from our episode with M.C. Laubscher, the host of Cashflow Ninja, where he teaches us how to learn to fail as an investor, as well as some of the most common mistakes that rookie investors make. Finally, we listen again to Christopher Kai as he shares his incredible techniques of getting big-game players to actually listen to his pitches and how to make an impact on the high rollers he meets. These highlights bring back some of the best lessons and principles in investing, such as: - Goal setting is extremely important in creating long-term wealth - Getting started is always the hardest part - When pitching, don’t ramble on and don’t waste their time—go straight to the point and ask for their contact number - Find a role model and find an example to emulate; it’s okay to be second best to the smarter guys - A disruptive brand and philosophies can help you beat the competition If these highlights inspire you to give our previous episodes another go, check out our archive today. Thank you for helping Investing in the US reach its fifth anniversary!

On this episode Peter Badger drops by and provides some amazing advice for us on investing in agriculture. Now this may be a little outside of the box on this show but it has strong relevance in terms of growing your wealth and living the passive income life that you want to live… where you want to live it. Peter dives into how “living the dream” can get super boring, how he invested in a Colombian coconut farm that provides incredible annual returns and why you, and everyone else, should be thinking outside the box when it comes to investing their money. There’s some amazing advice in here, so make sure you don’t miss it. Peter Badger and his wife Karen Williams co-founded the Global Investor Academy to help people obtain the mindset, strategies & tools to create recurring income from global real estate investing. Peter spent 25 years on Wall Street and in Silicon Valley while Karen spent 20 years in Management Consulting and Corporate Sales/Marketing. Today, real estate investing and education is their full-time endeavor. We dive deep into: - How to improve your property management skills. - What mistakes to look out for when investing in property. - How it’s easier to have a successful business in the U.S. compared to other countries. - Be careful what you wish for because sometimes it’s not what it cracked up to be. - How investing in agriculture changed Peter’s life and how it can yours. - Thinking outside the box when it comes to investing. Hit subscribe to join our community and grow your investing knowledge today. So what are you waiting for? Be Bold, Be Brave and Go Give Life a Crack! LINKS https://www.linkedin.com/in/peterbadger/ https://www.globalinvestoralliance.com/

This week my guest, Jerome Myers, has a heartfelt and emotional story of why he left the corporate America game and chose investing as a career instead. Jerome couldn’t stand the way people were treated in the corporates and even had to deal with one of his colleagues committing suicide because he lost his job. Luckily though, Jerome is now a successful real estate investor and gets to live out his childhood dream of helping people manifest the things they imagine and create social proof that dreams should be real. He drops by to tell us how to start an investing business from scratch and what newbie mistakes you want to avoid. Jerome Myers (a/k/a “J”) is a developer of people and places. He is the founder and Chief Inspiration Officer of DreamCatchers and The Myers Development Group. Since leaving corporate America after building a 20MM division, J has become one of the most sought after thought leaders in the multifamily development space. His company, The Myers Development Group, built a multi-million-dollar portfolio following the principles of Myers Methods. This success has led to him being featured on top podcasts such as Best Real Estate Investing Advice Ever with Joe Fairless, Apartment Investing with Michael Blank, Multifamily Investor Nation with Dan Hanford, Target Market Insights with John Casmon, and at least two dozen others. We dive deep into: - Why leaving corporate America was the best thing Jerome ever did. - How to start an investing business on the strong foot. - What mistakes people make when starting out. - Why people give up too easily. - You can’t just read books and listen to podcasts in order to launch an investing career. Hit subscribe to join our community and grow your investing knowledge today. So what are you waiting for? Be Bold, Be Brave and Go Give Life a Crack! LINKS https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeromemyers/ https://www.d3v3loping.com/get-to-know-us/ https://www.jeromemyers.co/lead-magnet1589065232830

Real estate investor Joseph Bramante is our guest this week and boy… does he have an amazing story about how he got into the real estate business. We dive into how Joseph went from being a team lead for ExxonMobil in Papua New Guinea, to securing a 26 unit multifamily deal which kicked off his investing career... all in 6 months. Joseph’s shares how anyone, even a syndication newbie, can apply an institutional level of project management to their business. As CEO of TriArc Real Estate Partners, the best part of Joseph Bramante’s day is showing investors how to create more time to enjoy life by building passive income streams which can fund unpaid vacations and accelerate retirement. The metric by which he measures his success is the number of people he’s helped achieve early retirement. We dive deep into: - The type of contracts you want to implement when holding your - GC’s feet to the fire - How to manage your schedules successfully - Re-baselining and how you shouldn’t expect to get it right the first time - Liquidating damages - Working effectively with a GC - Fixing problems before they escalate out of control. Hit subscribe to join our community and grow your investing knowledge today. So what are you waiting for? Be Bold, Be Brave and Go Give Life a Crack! LINKS https://www.linkedin.com/in/josephbramante/ https://www.triarcrep.com/