BIO: Adam Carroll has decades of experience working with families and business owners interested in creating massive efficiencies in their income and wealth-building capacity.

STORY: Adam bought a home in an auction without seeing it first and had to sink in more money to restore it than he made from selling it.

LEARNING: Never buy a home without doing your research first. Never make an investment decision under pressure.

“There’s a big difference between taking a calculated risk and being risky.”

Adam Carroll

Guest profile

Adam Carroll has decades of experience working with families and business owners interested in creating massive efficiencies in their income and wealth-building capacity.

He is an internationally recognized financial literacy expert, author of three Amazon best-sellers, and a two-time TED talk speaker with over 6 million views on YouTube and TED.com.

Adam is the host of the Build A Bigger Life podcast, the curator of MasteryOfMoney.com, and the founder of The Shred Method™.

Worst investment ever

In his late 20s, Adam realized he badly wanted to be in real estate. He had already procured a single-family home and turned it into a rental after he couldn’t sell it. That worked out very well for him. Adam later bought a duplex with his father. Which also turned out to be a fairly sound investment. And so he was on a roll and decided to go for a third property.

Adam went to an auction of a home in this small community near where he lived. His plan was to see what the auction would be like, not knowing that he would ultimately get swept into the bidding process. Hearing people make comments about the value and the assessed value and how much money one could make on this property made Adam interested in bidding. And just like that, he became the highest bidder and the new homeowner.

Adam later found out that the house he bought had water damage, a hot tub full of mold, and many other small damages that turned the home into a money pit. He put in so much money into restoring the house and spent the next six years trying to find tenants. He eventually sold it but never made a return on that investment.

Lessons learned

Leverage is one thing, and risk is something else entirely. Therefore, there is a big difference between taking a calculated risk and being risky.
When getting into real estate, go in prepared.
The bigger the home, sometimes the bigger the challenges. So if you’re new to real estate, start small.
When push comes to shove, you can do a lot when you challenge yourself to do it.

Andrew’s takeaways

Do your research and ensure that you separate your research on returns from the research you do on risk.
Never make an investment decision under pressure.
Be careful of early success. If you’re experiencing early success, work harder to reduce risk and protect your wealth.
When you find people who can mentor you, listen to them.

Actionable advice

Surround yourself with people who have been there and done that, who can advise you on when to pull the trigger and when not to.

Adam’s recommended resources

Check out The Shred Method™ to learn how to optimize your income, eliminate debt, reduce risk and create wealth with the money that you save.

Parting words

“Life is what we’re here for. A lifestyle is just stuff we use to show off. So build a bigger life, not a bigger lifestyle.”

Adam Carroll

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Connect with Adam Carroll

Andrew’s books

Andrew’s online programs

Connect with Andrew Stotz:

Further reading mentioned

Michael Easter (May 2021), The Comfort Crisis: Embrace Discomfort To Reclaim Your Wild, Happy, Healthy Self

Speculative Technologies with Ben Reinhardt [Macroscience cross-post]