How important is networking for successful Thoughtful Real Estate Entrepreneurs? Very important in fact. Yet the word “networking” can conjure up certain negative connotations and mental images of awkward conversations and pointless business card exchanges…and can discourage people (including your host, Jeff) from doing it. In this episode, Jeff interviews Brian Trippe—a real estate investor, educator and connector—about the importance of developing strategic networking skills. Brian is the auth...
Sep 07, 2021•43 min
When we look at a property, and we see the same thing everyone else sees….that’s a problem. But when we look at a property, and we see something DIFFERENT, and we have a bigger vision than others, all sorts of opportunity arises! In this episode, Jeff talks about the importance of being identify the hidden treasures in a deal, and how those hidden treasures can create much better deals for Thoughtful Real Estate Entrepreneur buyers. Jeff also gives several examples of different types of hidden t...
Sep 03, 2021•18 min
Does achieving financial freedom through real estate require grinding, hard work and hustle? Not necessarily. In this episode, Jeff interviews Dion McNeeley, a self-proclaimed lazy investor—who has achieved financing independence! In this conversation, Dion tells his story about how we went from significant bad debt to financial independence through real estate investing, while maintaining a job he loves. Jeff and Dion discuss what it means to be successful as a “lazy” real estate investor, what...
Aug 31, 2021•36 min
Usually when we embark on something new, we want to be able to see and understand the entire path ahead of us, before we even get started. But entrepreneurship doesn’t always work that way! In this episode, Jeff discusses how we must BELIEVE that the path will appear as we move forward in our real estate endeavors. From the big picture questions like “how will I achieve success as a real estate entrepreneur?” to the deal-by-deal questions of “how will this transaction come together?” we must emb...
Aug 27, 2021•21 min
Negotiation—whether in real estate or life in general—is all about creating agreement. But often times, when we share our ideas with another person (like the Seller of a piece of real estate), they don’t accept our ideas, and we fail to get agreement. But there’s one idea that a Seller will ALWAYS accept: the one they came up with! In this episode, Jeff discusses the power of helping others come to the conclusions you want them to, so that you can reach more agreement in your Seller negotiations...
Aug 24, 2021•18 min
What if you could simply make the decision that you would never have a bad day again—no matter what? In this inspiring interview, host Jeff interviews successful real estate investor and podcast host Jeffrey Holst. Jeffrey brings a perspective to life and real estate that is one-of-a-kind, and extremely thoughtful. In this conversation, Jeffrey and Jeff discuss a wide range of topics, from the keys to having a successful real estate partnership, to how to have “radical responsibility,” and how t...
Aug 20, 2021•53 min
If you want to reach your goals—whether in your real estate business, or your life—there’s one major key: you need to “arrive before you depart.” In this episode, Jeff shares the philosophy of “Arrival Before Departure,” a principle taught by Greg Pinneo (the guest in episode 100). Jeff explains that you have to be able to see yourself as the person capable of accomplishing something, before you can ever actually accomplish it. He shares many examples from his own personal life about how this pr...
Aug 16, 2021•19 min
Common real estate investing advice says, “if you want to buy more properties, you need to analyze more deals and make more offers.” While that may seem to make sense on the surface to mainstream investors, we Thoughtful Real Estate Entrepreneurs see it very differently. In this episode, Jeff explains why entrepreneurs don’t believe in “finding” deals, but instead believe in “creating” deals, and why analyzing deals in spreadsheets should only come much later in the process, after truly understa...
Aug 13, 2021•23 min
When we think about what creates stress and anxiety in our lives and businesses, it usually all comes down to “problems.” But, problems can also carry with them the seed of equivalent opportunities—if we can learn to rewire our perspective. In this episode, Jeff shares how the problems we experience in real estate negotiations and deals can actually turn into some of the greatest improvements to our deals. After listening to this episode, you may even find yourself being thankful for the problem...
Aug 10, 2021•16 min
People often ask, “what’s your response rate on your direct mail marketing to Sellers?” It seems like a simple question, but the answer is not as simple as one might think. The counterintuitive truth is this: good marketing is hard to measure. In this episode, Jeff explains what good marketing is—and what it is designed to accomplish—and explains that good marketing should be difficult to track because it is relational in nature, not transactional.
Aug 06, 2021•15 min
Thoughtful Real Estate Entrepreneurs know that taking a relationship-based approach to negotiating with Sellers not only feels right, it works really well to get deals done too! But when done well, these nurtured Seller relationships can propel our businesses even further in the future through referrals! In this episode, Jeff interviews veteran real estate investor Melissa Johnson, who shares her insights on doing business in a way that generates future referrals for more acquisitions!
Jul 27, 2021•36 min
Many investors want to transition to full-time real estate entrepreneurship, but feel like they need to keep their day jobs so that they can continue to qualify for bank loans. They say, “I’ll quit my job after I’ve maxed out my conventional loans.” But is that a good way to think about it? Is the investor accidentally limiting themself with this mentality? In this episode, Jeff discusses two important considerations when deciding if you should be focused on maxing out your conventional loans, o...
Jul 23, 2021•18 min
Let’s be honest, as humans we tend to invest a lot of our energy worrying. What are we worrying about? Often times it’s risk. And as real estate investors, we think about risk a lot—what is the risk of this deal I’m doing, or in my investment strategy, or in choosing Property A over Property B? But what exactly is risk? And how should we develop a responsible perspective on risk, so that we consider it appropriately without letting it paralyze us? In this episode, Jeff discusses the two big cate...
Jul 14, 2021•17 min
Most real estate investors have no clue what their Seller really wants—they just assume it’s the highest price. But as Thoughtful Real Estate Entrepreneurs, we know that each Seller is unique and wants different things. But while it’s great to understand WHAT the Seller wants, it’s even better to also understand WHY the Seller wants what they want. In this episode, Jeff discusses and explains how understanding not only what your Seller wants, but also why, is critical for getting more proposals ...
Jul 10, 2021•15 min
In this episode, Jeff interviews John Crutchfield, a full-time, successful real estate investor and entrepreneur who encourages people to “grab the map” and take charge of living the life they want. John shares his story of getting started as a real estate investor, transitioning from his previous full-time career and ultimately becoming one of the biggest real estate investing players in his market through doing great, creative and entrepreneurial real estate acquisitions.
Jul 05, 2021•42 min
Everybody loves the BRRRR Strategy—Buy, Renovate, Rent, Refinance, Repeat—because it allows investors to recycle their cash and repeat the process over and over again without needing additional capital. But can you do the BRRRR strategy with Seller financing? Yes you can! In today’s episode, Jeff shares two simple frameworks for using Seller financing to BRRRR properties and build your rental portfolio. Plus, Jeff also shares one advanced bonus framework using the principles of Supercharged Sell...
Jul 02, 2021•20 min
We know that before we can Solve the Deal—and ultimately get the Seller to say yes—we have to Solve the Person, so that we understand our audience and know their perspectives, opinions and motivations. But where do we start? In this episode, Jeff shares a simple way to begin Solving the Person: every Seller is either moving TOWARD something, or moving AWAY from something. Once you understand which of these your Seller is doing, you can make great progress Solving the Person.
Jun 29, 2021•13 min
Instead of racking up rentals by simply buying existing properties and renovating them, what if you were to physically build your rental properties from the ground up? And what if instead of keeping all those homes, you sold many of them and built a great business and brand as a homebuilder? In this episode, Jeff interviews George Hale of Woodhill Homes, a top-notch homebuilder in Oregon. Jeff and George discuss why sex sells when it comes to homebuilding, how to decide whether to keep or sell a...
Jun 25, 2021•44 min
There’s an old expression in real estate: “Your Price, My Terms…or My Price, Your Terms.” It’s an extremely simple idea, and provides a great, simple framework for thinking about how we can negotiate win-win deals with Sellers. In this episode, Jeff explains how to use this simple rule of thumb to be creative and thoughtful in your deal structuring efforts, and ultimately to craft more proposals that get accepted.
Jun 22, 2021•18 min
As Thoughtful Real Estate Entrepreneurs, we only propose deals that are mutually beneficial—win-win’s for both buyer and seller…right? Yes, that’s true, but this brings up a very important point. Just because we only propose mutually beneficial solutions doesn’t mean that we frame the conversation with the seller as being “mutually beneficial.” In this episode, Jeff explains that the perfect negotiation is one that does indeed result in a mutually beneficial transaction, but without ever focusin...
Jun 17, 2021•7 min
To celebrate this milestone 100th episode, Jeff interviews his personal coach and mentor, Greg Pinneo. Greg is a 45-year full-time veteran of real estate investing. He is a national speaker and acclaimed educator of real estate entrepreneurs, and is known for his truly unique and inimitable mix of fresh perspectives on real estate finance, negotiation, philosophy and life. As Greg is known to say, his specialty is “wonderfully disturbing” the people who have the opportunity to listen to his mess...
Jun 14, 2021•1 hr 39 min
When you’re negotiating a deal, is it best to just ask for everything you want all at once, upfront? As Thoughtful Real Estate Entrepreneurs, we believe in the art of “incremental negotiation”—the process of strategically getting a series of micro-agreements, instead of just asking for everything we want at once. Instead of insisting a Seller take one big leap, we often use the skills of incremental negotiation to move them along a series of smaller stepping stones, in the direction of the end r...
Jun 11, 2021•24 min
Is there a role for “emotion” in real estate investing? While many investors take a very rational, logical perspective to real estate, Thoughtful Real Estate Entrepreneurs also understand the importance of the subjective side of real estate—the emotional connection a tenant or buyer has to a property. Properties that speak to the hearts of the people using them are more special and rare—not to mention financially resilient—than those are simply functional and utilitarian. In this episode, Jeff e...
Jun 07, 2021•33 min
If you’re a rental property investor, why would you ever buy properties without cash flow? Does it ever make sense to do so? Most traditional investors answer “no” emphatically; Thoughtful Real Estate Entrepreneurs, on the other hand, see a broader perspective. In this episode, Jeff discusses the scenarios in which it might make sense to consider buying a rental property without cash flow.
Jun 03, 2021•14 min
Many people these days believe it’s impossible to buy properties off-market with seller financing. After all, they argue, “why would a Seller sell you their property off-market when they can get an all-cash offer for a higher price by putting it on the market?” But this perspective, while perhaps understandable, is wrong and limiting. In this episode, Jeff discusses five reasons why Sellers may still very much prefer to sell you their properties off-market, even with seller financing, despite th...
May 27, 2021•15 min
Most real estate investors look at a potential deal, then look at the resources they have to work with—such as their cash available—and think, “I can only get this deal done if it’s within the resources I have available.” Thoughtful Real Estate Entrepreneurs, on the other hand, think “how can I negotiate a deal that makes good investment sense, regardless of the resources I personally have to work with at this moment?” In this episode, Jeff discusses how to upgrade your mentality from the scarci...
May 25, 2021•14 min
Let’s face it—most people don’t just suddenly dive into full-time real estate entrepreneurship on day one. Instead, we usually start doing real estate on the side of our full-time W-2 jobs. And while for some the vision is to quit the day job and do real estate investing full time, for many others the goal is to build wealth and cash flow while maintaining a rewarding career. In this episode, Jeff interviews Kimberly Kesterke of The W2 Landlord. Jeff and Kimberly discuss the advantages of invest...
May 20, 2021•31 min
When the market is hot, prices are on the rise and inventory is low. So the big question is: should you buy in that hot market? Or is it smarter to sit back and wait for things to cool down before jumping in and buying your next property? In this episode, Jeff explains why the “don’t buy in a hot market” argument is simplistic and wrong, and he breaks down five key points to consider as you decide to move forward and buy properties in a hot market.
May 17, 2021•24 min
If you want to become a full-time real estate entrepreneur, it comes down to one question: what do you actually DO every day? It turns out that there are several clear, specific things you must do every day or every week—and if you do them, you will predictably be able to succeed in being a full-time real estate entrepreneur. In this episode, Jeff explains the four big categories of daily actions that you must take to become—or remain—a successful full-time real estate entrepreneur.
May 10, 2021•32 min
Why do so many real estate investors become overwhelmed by the responsibilities of property management? Because they lack Vision, Infrastructure and Process—what guest Mark Dolfini of Landlord Coach calls the “VIP method.” In this episode, Jeff and Mark discuss the VIP method, the importance of having a relationship-oriented approach to working with tenants, the value of having empathy while maintaining a business-like approach to property management, and much more.
May 06, 2021•40 min
