How Jay and I Invested in Real Estate

For the first four, and a half years of their marriage, Wendy and Jay's income was less than a hundred thousand. They invested about 35% of what their total income was in those early years. "We always focused on our net worth because we always lived way below our means," she says.

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Jay and Wendy Papasan are a real estate, business, and leadership power couple from Austin, Texas.

Jay co-authored the #1 best-seller ‘The One Thing’ and serves as Vice President at Keller Williams International. Wendy runs the Papasan Properties Group, a top 1% real estate agency, and hosts the ‘Empire Building Podcast.'

In this episode, Jay and Wendy share how they dove head first into investing after realizing at age 30 that their net worth was just $2,000; how they've developed as leaders, spouses, and parents; how they set goals; and what they've learned from working 1:1 with top performers like Gary Keller.

Jay and Wendy also talk about:

-Their backpacking adventures after getting married

-Investing aggressively, even on a modest income

-What “financial freedom” means to them

-The benefits of being a “time billionaire”

-Their definition of happiness

-"Work-life balancing" and the seasonality of life

-How Gary Keller entered their lives

-Brandon’s best marketing advice

-How to start tracking your net worth

-The sweat equity they put into their properties in the beginning

-Avoiding lifestyle creep

-Giving away money (to your kids and charity) while you're still alive

-Their best parenting and marriage advice

-Why they enrolled their son in Acton Academy, a non-traditional school

-Setting crystal clear expectations for team members

-What they want their legacy to be

Jay and Wendy’s charitable cause:

Red Oak Hope, a non-profit that works to “stop trafficking and exploitation on a large scale, while simultaneously providing holistic care to individuals and communities already affected"

Books mentioned in this episode:

-The One Thing by Gary Keller and Jay Papasan

-The Millionaire Real Estate Agent by Gary Keller, Dave Jenks, and Jay Papasan

-Think Like A CEO by Mr Byron Morrison

-FedEx Delivers by Madan Birla

-Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl

-The Road Less Stupid by Keith Cunningham

-Good to Great by Jim Collins

-Body for Life by Bill Phillips

-Go for the Goal by Mia Hamm and Aaron Heifetz

-The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas J. Stanley

-The Simple Path to Wealth by JL Collins