#54: Today we’re chatting with a good friend of mine who was one of the first big cheerleaders of REtipster.com and the REtipster Club way back when things were just getting started.(Show Notes: https://REtipster.com/54)I’m talking about my good friend Karl James. Karl was actually the first person I ever interviewed on the REtipster Podcast (you can hear it in episode 3) and he has always been very open to sharing the things that are working for him in the land business. It seems like every time I talk to the guy, there are a lot of valuable lessons and insights that come out of the conversation.The reason I wanted us to talk with him today (other than the fact that it’s just been a while since I’ve talked with him) is because the last time we spoke, he mentioned in passing that he’s been able to make over six figures in the land business over the past year, just by assigning contracts.In other words, he isn’t doing what most land flippers do, where we speculatively buy properties for a super cheap price with the plan of reselling them quickly for a profit. He’s getting properties under contract and assigning the contracts to other buyers for a fee - which means he's either:Not taking title to the property at all, he's just selling the original purchase agreement to another buyer and collecting an assignment fee, orHe’s buying and selling the property on the same day.In either case, this is kind of a big deal, because he’s able to make money without using much or any money of his own.I realize that sounds great, for obvious reasons, but I wanted to dig into this a bit more and understand the circumstances of how he’s doing this, where he’s finding these deals, where he’s finding the buyers and how other people might be able to reverse engineer this process in other parts of the country.

#53: Back in episode 51, we started a conversation with Mike Wagner, a self-storage investing expert who is building an online community at TheStorageRebellion.com(Show Notes: https://retipster.com/53)We had a great talk, but the only problem was - once we came upon the one-hour mark, we realized we had only gotten through the first half of our questions, so we decided to have him back on the show for "Part 2" to finish the conversation!In this episode, we cover a lot of the critical details about due diligence, financing options and other insights about how to acquire, finance and run a successful self-storage facility.

#52: Peter Toth is someone I've known about for a few years now, and when I was talking with Josh Brooks back in episode 18, I found out that Josh and Peter were actually working together in a pretty serious capacity. Josh handles all the acquisition aspects and Peter handles the entire sales side.(Show Notes: https://REtipster.com/52)In the land business, one of the biggest bottlenecks most people face is getting properties sold quickly.Given the inherent challenges and slow turnaround times that can occur in the land business, I thought Peter would be a great guy to talk to as a way of finding out, from a professional, full-time land seller, what is working for him right now?What are the most effective places to advertise?What are the best selling tactics?How does he create a solid value proposition that keeps their inventory moving?How important is a person’s ability to sell person-to-person (over the phone) vs their ability to write good sales copy and get good pictures?Basically - we’re looking for any insights we can get on the dispositions side of the land business and hopefully, you’ll gather some new ideas from listening in to our conversion.

#51: In my own personal quest to learn more about the self-storage investing business, I’ve done a lot of searching on Facebook and YouTube to find others who are doing this stuff and talking about it. In the process, I came across this guy named Mike Wagner with a website, YouTube Channel and Facebook Group called the Storage Rebellion.(Show Notes: https://REtipster.com/51)A few months ago, he posted a 3-minute video on YouTube talking about a recent deal he did where he made $750K (425K in cash and another $325K in homes that he took in trade). He originally bought a facility for $360,000, did another $300K of improvements, and then sold it off for $1,325,000 (and keep in mind, this DOESN’T include the $200K in cash flow he had collected over the course of four years while he owned it).When I saw this video, I knew we had to get this guy on the podcast to learn more about how he did it and to get his insights on other aspects of the business… so listen in - I think you'll enjoy this!

#50: A few months ago, I saw a forum post in the REtipster Club from a guy named Jay Thomason.(Show Notes: https://retipster.com/50)He was leaving his day job to join his partner's land business and do deals full-time.When I saw this, I thought a couple of things:"That’s amazing!""Hmmm... I bet there are some people in our crowd who would love to hear more details on how he did this."So, we reached out to him, and he was happy to come on our podcast with his business partner Daniel Earhart, to talk about how their business works, how they were able to speed-grow their operation in just a few short years, and the role both of them played in taking a HUGE step towards financial freedom.

#49: Today we’re talking with Diego Corzo.(Show Notes: https://REtipster.com/49)Diego is, by anyone’s standard, a smashing success in the real estate investing business. He runs a real estate chain that sells around $20 million per year, he owns over a dozen rental properties that cover his monthly living expenses and he has been financially free since the age of 28.There are PLENTY of successful people we can talk to on this show, but Diego is different than most. Something interesting about Diego is that even though he’s achieved the American Dream in America, he’s not a citizen of the United States. He’s one of the 11.7 million undocumented immigrants living in the U.S. and he’s one of the 800,000 dreamers protected under the DACA program.Diego came to the U.S. with his parents as a child and has overcome incredible odds to survive and thrive in America. Part of what I love about Diego’s story is not only the challenges he overcame but the way he built something that most people struggle to do, even when they don’t have to deal with these obstacles.In this interview, Diego explains how anyone can start from anywhere and build something great.

#48: Earlier this year, I heard about this guy named Will Mitchell, who is one of the major players in the Belize real estate market.(Show Notes: https://REtipster.com/48)Now - why Belize, of all places? Why are we talking about this?Well… I’ve always been curious about what’s involved with investing in real estate outside f the U.S. Not just about Belize per se, but I think Belize is an interesting illustration of how differently things work in other parts of the world (in some ways that make the business easier for real estate investors, and in some ways that make it harder).For example...Belize (and many countries) doesn’t have an MLS system. Most deals happen by word of mouth.Getting conventional bank financing is NOT something that happens in the regular course of business in Belize. Most deals will only happen if the buyer can pay all cash, if the seller will finance it, or if some intermediary (other than a bank) is willing to finance the transaction.Direct mail marketing (which is a major source of our deals in the U.S.) is also not a thing in Belize. There isn't nearly the same kind of public access to property ownership data, which makes this approach pretty unfeasible in almost every scenario.Not to mention - there are a lot of other things to think about when you start working under a different government, with different tax laws, different values, different languages and more.The United States is just a small sliver of all the real estate in the world and through this interview, I hope we can all become more aware of the opportunities that exist outside of our country.

#47: Pat Flynn’s latest book is all about turning followers into fans. Superfans, that is.  Customers, followers, subscribers. It’s easy to just look at the numbers.How many likes?How many purchases?How many email subscribers?But there are real people behind all that data. People who are looking for leaders to give them advice, and to care. They are looking for trustworthy tools and resources, and for someone to help them to achieve their goals.(Show Notes: https://REtipster.com/47)In this dog-eat-dog world, these are the people who are looking for someone who they can trust, and who they know has their best interests in mind. These are the people who if you connect with them in the right way, who will become Superfans.In this interview, we talk with Pat about his thoughts on branding, what "passive income" really means, and all that goes into running a business online - in a way that creates true superfans.

#46: Leslie Samuel is the founder of BecomeABlogger.com, where he teaches people how to leverage the power of blogging.(Show Notes: https://REtipster.com/46)I think the idea of blogging (or podcasting, or running a YouTube Channel, etc.) applies to just about any business out there, because there is a lot of power in establishing yourself as an authority in your niche, and there are few better ways to do that than by starting an online platform and become a thought leader in your space.This is something I learned back when I decided to throw my hat in the ring by starting the REtipster blog back in 2012, and honestly, it has been nothing short of life-changing for me.A lot of people never even think about building a brand online with something like a blog. Likewise, a lot of people have thought about it, but they have no idea where to start.In either case, today’s episode is going to be a crash course on how to do exactly that.

#45: When we had Keith Weinhold on the show a few months back (you can check it out on episode 29) I remember how Jaren and I both walked away from that conversation with a changed perspective on a number of things.(Show Notes: https://REtipster.com/45)Part of the what Keith brings to the table on his podcast and website at GetRichEducation.com is the way he’s able to make statements that sound counterintuitive (and even a little provocative), but when he explains the rationale behind those statements, it’s pretty hard to argue with that he’s saying.I think we all make certain assumptions about our finances, investing and how money is supposed to work (whether it’s from the way we’re raised or just conclusions we come to on our own) and Keith has this way of reframing the question in a way that makes people realize, there’s a lot more to the story.