The Art of Passive Income

Mistakes are an inevitable part of business and while they may not be fatal in the land investing business, they can cause some uncomfortable turbulence.In today’s best of  edition, we take a look back at a couple episodes where the team talks about some of the mistakes they have made in this business and gives advice that will help you avoid making the same.Scott Todd starts us off with a situation where a buyer wanted more acreage than what he had. In a situation like this, do you go out of your way to find what the buyer is looking for? What if it’s outside your area?There are many conditions and variables to take into consideration, listen in as the team talks about those variables and what they would do in this situation to avoid ending up with land that they didn’t want.Sit back, buckle up and listen in to find out how Scott's situation turned out along with the other mistakes mentioned in this Best Of Round Table series!Isn't it time to create passive income so you can work where you want, when you want and with whomever you want?

A Land Geek Student Success Story—In this week’s show, we are putting the student spotlight on Jim L. who we are going to keep anonymous because of his day job.Jim’s entrepreneurial spirit awakened in 2017 when he started his first business in Bitcoin, but knew it wasn’t sustainable so he set out to find something that was, one that would be a good fit for him.He started listening to the Side Hustle Nation podcast with Nick Loper when he ran across an episode that featured another Land Geek Alum, Roberto Chavez, and it piqued his interest.Because of its simplicity and not having to deal with termites, tenants, or toilets, he thought that land investing could be the perfect fit for him but he first wanted to make sure it was legit. That research led him to Scott Bossman and soon after, in March 2018, he signed up for Flight School.Listen in now as Jim gives us an inside look into Flight School and what it was like working side by side with Scott and the mini bat. Plus, he talks about his coaching experience with Tate and how valuable it was to have that one-on-one interaction to get all of his questions answered.Also, find out the details behind:How many VA’s he has and his most important oneFavorite dealsHis not so favorite part of the business“My favorite deals are not the most glamorous ones, they’re the ones that quietly keep the bank account stocked.”Then, Mark digs in to get to the bottom of Jim’s raving video testimonials and why customers love him so much!Find out what Jim’s secret is and what sets him apart that has Mark saying that, "he’s a purple cow in a field of brown cows".Plus, Jim gives advice to those just starting out in the business. All of this and more on this episode of The Art of Passive Income!TIP OF THE WEEKMark: Go buy some land from Jim at LandsForYou.com. Also, check out the book, American Dirt.Scott: Check out the app, DoubleTake, for the new iPhone 11. It's a video recording app that allows you to record on all of your cameras at the same time and create an incredible video with different lenses or views.Jim: If you're interested in land investing, there are a lot of programs out there but Land Geek is just fantastic. I've talked to every single coach and they've given me wonderful advice, time, attention, and respect. They're very open about sharing what works for them and this is not about trade secrets, it's about execution.Isn’t it time to create passive income so you can work where you want, when you want and with whomever you want?

Setting the record straight on a mischaracterization that leaves some people afraid to attend a Land Geek Bootcamp.In this Round Table discussion, join Mark and the team:Erik PetersonMimi SchmidtTate LitchfieldScott Todd... as they clear up the misconception that Bootcamp is going to be one big pitch fest. In fact, just the opposite is true and the reviews alone should speak for themselves. Here are just a few taken from the last event in January...“Land Geek Boot Camp In San Antonio Texas! This is like drinking out of a firehose, more knowledge/implementation techniques laid out in a step-by-step process to follow. This has been a great weekend. I’ll come back again and again.”“Phenomenal experience at Boot Camp. I didn't know what to expect going into it but the journey exceeded my expectations. I'd love to be a repeat attendee and be a good resource for this excellent community.”“I just got home from attending The Land Geek Boot Camp in San Antonio. The experience of attending live and seeing firsthand how so many are making this land business work with the help of Mark and his team pushed me over the top. I already thought flipping land was a good idea, but now I know it’s a GREAT IDEA. Kudos to The Land Geek for hosting such a great event with Live inter-actives that made the training fun and realistic at the same time. Totally making the Boot Camp a regular event that I attend.”Listen in now as the team talks about their own first Bootcamp experience—their expectations going in and what the reality was. Find out why they kept coming back and why they see many other repeat attendees… it can be summed up in two words: community & value.Also, find out the details behind Mimi’s deal that took place at a Florida Bootcamp, where someone may, or may not have been dragged into the backroom and shook down. The team is neither confirming nor denying it.Bootcamp is about you getting the knowledge, the confidence, the skills that you might be missing. The focus is not to sell, it's about education and community.And finally, Scott reveals the magic cure to sync “let freedom ring”… don’t look at Mark’s face!TIP OF THE WEEKMimi: For new county research, check out Zillow’s Database.Isn’t it time to create passive income so you can work where you want, when you want and with whomever you want?

Our guest today has a deferment strategy when it comes to capital gains tax. He quips hundreds of business professionals with the Deferred Sales Trust tool to help his high net worth clients solve capital gains tax deferral limitations.Brett Swarts—CEO of Capital Gains Tax Solutions, is here to tell us how the Deferred Sales Trust works. His experience includes numerous deferred sales trusts, Delaware’s statutory trusts, 1031 exchanges and $85 million in closed commercial real estate brokerage transactions.“We insert this trust right before the close of escrow, which gives so many more benefits than traditional installment sale and solves so many more challenges that people are faced with when they're looking at 1031 exchange.”Join us as we discuss in detail:The benefits of a Deferred Sales TrustBuying real estate through the trust versus a 1031 exchangeWho this is for and who it is not forAnd, how do we know if it’s legal?Listen in now as Brett dives deep into the legalities and so much more in this week’s episode of The Art Of Passive Income!TIP OF THE WEEKMark: Learn more about Brett at CapitalGainsTaxSolutions.com and start looking at this very creative, very sophisticated strategy to defer your capital gains and really transfer wealth.Scott: Check out Deprocrastination.co— a Chrome plugin to block distracting websites.Brett: Check out the book, Crucial Conversations:Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High. It talks about how to make a conversation safe and use contrasting to slowly state your story in a way that is going to open up dialogue versus closing people down.Isn’t it time to create passive income so you can work where you want, when you want and with whomever you want?

Join us for a special edition of Round Table as the team grills Flight School student, Joey Chiarello!Joining Mark for this in depth Q & A session are:Erik PetersonMike ZainoTate LitchfieldScott ToddJoey stumbled across Mark & Scott on another podcast back in 2017 and was intrigued by the model, so he jumped straight into Flight School a month later.Fast forward three years, Joey is still working a full-time job by choice, but also crushing it in his land business!Listen in as Joey sits down with the guys and answers these questions:What are his biggest challenges and the turning point for himWhat is his passive now and how long it took to achieve itHis average acquisition cost and monthly notesHow he picked the first county and how many he works inHis experience in Flight SchoolWorking with his spouse in the business and outsourcingHow many hours per day in the land businessBest deal to dateWhat should a newbie’s best attribute beHow much capital to startWhat aspects of the business he doesn’t likeWhat he would have done different in Flight School and how long it took to pay for itMonthly expenses-mailingsBiggest mistake to dateAlso, find out Joey’s overall sense of accomplishment and his answer to the pressing question, recline or no recline, in this week’s episode of The Land Geek Round Table!TIP OF THE WEEKScott Todd: Find the perfect city for your perfect climate at NomadList.com/Climate-Finder.Isn’t it time to create passive income so you can work where you want, when you want and with whomever you want?

Our guest today, Dave Dubeau—marketer and real estate entrepreneur, has a 5-step solution to attract investors and raise capital so you can get the deal done!In 2010, Dave seller-financed rent-to-owns but hit a wall when he ran out of cash and credit with the perfect tenant/buyer ready to go. He found the adage, “find a good deal and the money will find you” was not true in the case for him. After several failed attempts to raise the capital, he ultimately lost out on the deal and told himself he was not going to let that happen again.Join us today, as Dave hands us an umbrella and shows us how to prepare before you actually need the money by warming up your sphere of influence with these five steps:Build a target list of prospective investors from your contact listReconnect with people on a personal level before talking businessThe transition message from personal to businessConstant, consistent, communicationBe seen as an authorityDave dives deep into each process and how to prepare so you can go into every deal with the money already lined up. Then, find of which of those steps Scott challenged him on and so much more on this episode of The Art of Passive Income!*It’s important that you understand your local state security and federal security regulations.TIP OF THE WEEKMark: Learn more about Dave at DaveDubeau.com.Scott: Check out NetflixHangouts.com—a chrome extension that allows you to watch Netflix while looking like you’re on a conference call.Dave: Go to InvestorAttractionBook.com to get the free e-book of Money Partner Formula.Isn’t it time to create passive income so you can work where you want, when you want and with whomever you want?

In today’s show, Team Land Geek is going to answer a question that gets asked often and that is, how much money do I need to get started in this business?The entire gang joins Mark today to give you a wide range of answers.Scott BossmanMike ZainoMimi SchmidtErik PetersonTate LitchfieldScott ToddSo, how much money do you need to get started and there’s a second part of the question, when should you start raising capital?With answers ranging between 500-5,000, the team dives into their own beginnings and how much capital they started with and when it was time to raise more money.All agree that you can start with too much capital but with all the options and creative ways available to purchase property today, you can start with little to no money to buy property and the only money you really need up front is for the mailings.Listen in to find out that hard number Mark pressed the team for in order to get started, along with:How many weeks for mailing you should have enough money forDifferent options for buying land at little to no costHow too much capital can hurt you in the long runShould you factor in education“Knowing what you’re doing will not only give you that confidence to keep buying land, but it will teach you what to look for and what makes a good county.” -TateThen, with all the talk about the many purchasing opportunities available for land investors today, thanks to the original land OG himself… who had to walk up the land investing hill... both ways, it had Mark feeling a little pained so he looked to the group for a little compassion.Did he find it? Probably not, but it was all in good fun!Finally, did you think the debate over reclining airplane seats was over? Think again! The battle rages on this week and leads to another debate over shoes or no shoes, in your home and in others. When do you enforce it in your own home and should it be an act of courtesy in others, or do you insist even when the house rules are no outside shoes inside.TIP OF THE WEEKScott Todd: Check out TOSDR.org—It addresses one of the biggest lies on the internet, “I have read and agree to the terms.” This website gives you a summary of those terms that you are agreeing to.Isn't it time to create passive income so you can work where you want, when you want and with whomever you want?

Are you a real estate investor who is coming up short on funds needed to close the deal on that great opportunity knocking at your door?Our guest today, Bruce Mack, is a professional real estate investor who has done over 102 million in transactions and has been a licensed financial advisor for over two decades.Bruce discovered that there is a big hole in the funding boat when he saw real estate people coming up short on their funding and were losing out on deals. So he founded Platinum Financing Group to plug that hole.Platinum Financing offers a variety of unique finance solutions and he’s going to talk about some of those solutions today.Bruce, who says there are few asset classes they won’t work with, starts us off by going over two critical pain points—getting funded when you’re first starting out and then protecting your funds.Listen in as we go over:The various programs offeredWhy corporate credit is not a workable solution for real estate investorsHow not to be classified as a dealerThen, find out what Bruce uncovered on his search for the holy grail of trusts as he does a deep dive into trusts and the program, Asset Protection Tax Mitigation Trust.“Specifically with asset protection, it’s bulletproof in as much no lien or judgment could ever be executed against an individual or against the trust.”Are LLCs a viable source of protection?The answer and so much more on today’s valuable and informative episode of The Art of Passive Income!TIP OF THE WEEKMark: My tip of the week is to go to PlatinumFinancingGroup.com.Bruce: Check out the book, The One-Minute Manager by Kenneth H. Blanchard and Spencer Johnson. It’s an hour read to learn how to be a good one-minute manager.Also, if you are interested in learning about the financing component, go to PlatinumFinancingGroup.com. There is an active calendar and you can block out 15-minutes to discuss what you want on initial consult.And, for those who are looking for complementary trust consultation go to PlatinumTrustGroup.com.Isn’t it time to create passive income so you can work where you want, when you want and with whomever you want?.

Scaling your business is a vital part of the process to create passive income through the niche of raw land investing. And in order to scale, you will need to create a bulletproof system that will allow you the freedom to work on the business, not in the business.So, how do you create a bulletproof system with your VA team?Joining Mark to answer that question are:Erik PetersonScott BossmanMimi SchmidtMike ZainoTate LitchfieldScott ToddListen in as Team Geek goes over their own processes and how they put together a good team of VA’s and built their bulletproof systems. They offer sage advice, share tech tools along with:Running a litmus test before it goes to the VACreating systems that can hold up if a VA quitsRecognizing a good VA and more!To sum up it up…Know how to do the processes yourself before passing them off to someone else. Then map them out, hire well, cross train, and keep an open line of communication! Make sure your VAs see the big picture and what their role is in it. It also helps to break up the work into smaller micro-tasks.Then, Mike gets his spirit animal! Find out what it is and why it’s a perfect fit for him!Plus, the team takes a vote on reclining your seat on a plane, is it your right or just plain rude? It’s almost a unanimous verdict!TIP OF THE WEEKMimi: If you’re just getting started with Zapier, you can learn some good tips from the Facebook groups, Zapier User Community and Zapier Automation Community. There’s also Mentorship Program where you can either be the mentor or the mentee.Isn’t it time to create passive income so you can work where you want, when you want and with whomever you want?

With maintenance costs eating up his rental profits, our guest started looking for new ways to generate enough side income to cover the monthly mortgage on his apartment buildings... and he found them!Al Williamson—LeadingLandlord.com, is a former civil engineer and the author of Building Wealth With Inner City Rentals: Success the Catalytic Landlord Way. And today, he joins us to talk about the ancillary cash flow opportunities in property rentals.Al spent years doing the research, packaged all his ideas up and put them into a book called 40 Ways To Increase The Net Income of Your Rental Property.On today’s show, Al explains how the short/long term rental business works and shows us some creative ways to earn extra money on your rentals every month.With years of testing, Al has concluded that furnished rentals set the stage for all these other income streams, earning about 30% above market. Listen in as Al delves into the details of this strategy and how it compares with corporate extended-stays. Plus, we dive into:Other ways to bring in extra moneyRental arbitrage & the risksWorst advice Al has seen givenAirbnbs and more!Also, find out the details behind the incentives he offers to his long-term tenants… it’s a win win situation for all.Al proves that he is not your traditional landlord, he has taken an old strategy and put a unique spin on it by constructing the perfect formula of cash flow options, which covers the mortgage on his units without using the rent!Al has generously offered to give one of the Art of Passive Income listeners his book,  40 Ways to Increase the Net Income of your Rental Property. Check out The Motivation & Wealth Creation Group for details!TIP OF THE WEEKMark: Learn more about Al Williamson and his incredibly creative ways to increase the net income of any rental property by visiting LeadingLandlord.com.Scott: Check out Elephant.Rocks for text reminders. What’s cool about it is that you can text elephant and use real normal language like, “Hey, remind me to call mom tomorrow at 10:00 AM”, and then it will schedule it and remind you at 10:00 AM to call your mom.Al: My tip of the week is to practice preventative maintenance, use Green Gobbler for your drains before clogs appear. It’s a biologically friendly product that is proven to prevent clogs and prevents any unnecessary plumbing bills.Isn’t it time to create passive income so you can work where you want, when you want and with whomever you want?