Financial Freedom with Real Estate Investing

There's a lot of pundits who say that entrepreneurship is about the hustle and grind. We’re supposed to work harder and harder and sacrifice our lives for the sake of the business.But Mike Michalowicz argues that entrepreneurship is not about doing the job. It’s about creating jobs.So, how do you remove yourself from the day-to-day operation of your business? Can you get to a point where your syndication firm runs itself?Mike Michalowicz is a well-known keynote speaker and bestselling author on a mission to eradicate entrepreneurial poverty.Mike has built four multimillion-dollar companies and exited two. But he has also launched ten failed businesses and lost his fortune twice.And it is those struggles that inspired Mike to serve other entrepreneurs through books like Profit First: Transform Your Business from a Cash-Eating Monster to a Money-Making Machine and Clockwork: Design Your Business to Run Itself.On this episode of Financial Freedom with Real Estate Investing, Mike joins Garrett and me to discuss the premise of Profit First, describing how to prioritize profit by treating it like a business expense.Mike challenges us to overcome superhero syndrome and take on the role of supervisionary in our business, building a team to handle the day-to-day while we think strategically about growing the company.Listen in for Mike’s surprising advice on planning a four-week vacation that forces you to put systems in place and empower your people to run the business without you!For full episode show notes visit: https://themichaelblank.com/podcasts/session349/

How does a schoolteacher overcome her limiting beliefs to become a full-time syndicator?For Julie Holly, community was key in helping her shift from anxious single-family landlord to self-assured multifamily GP.Julie is Founder of Three Keys Investments, a multifamily firm committed to helping investors build passive income and legacy wealth. She also serves as Host of The Conscious Investor Podcast.Julie began her career as a schoolteacher with a portfolio of single-family homes before transitioning to syndications. Today, she’s a passive investor in 300 doors, she's partnered in 68 units and GP for another 120.On this episode of Financial Freedom with Real Estate Investing, Julie joins me to explain how Arnold Schwarzenegger launched her investing career and what she did to overcome the WHAT IF mindset that held her back early on.Julie discusses why now is the right time to get into multifamily investing and describes how she is adjusting her underwriting to protect her LPs.Listen in for Julie’s insight on building confidence through community and get inspired to invest in yourself as you take the next step in YOUR real estate investing journey! For full episode show notes visit: https://themichaelblank.com/podcasts/session348/

Building a platform is an important part of raising money at scale. But you need more than a website to demonstrate your credibility with potential investors.Becoming an author gives you authority. It allows you to share your investing thesis with many, many prospects and generate leads as well as referrals.But what does the process of writing a book look like? And why would you publish yet another real estate book when there are already so many others on the market?Chandler Bolt is Founder and CEO of Self-Publishing School, a platform that has helped 7,000 entrepreneurs publish books in the last 7 years.Chandler also serves as host of the Self-Publishing School Podcast and author of six bestselling books. His latest release is called Published: The Proven Path from Blank Page to 100,000 Copies Sold.On this episode of Financial Freedom with Real Estate Investing, Chandler joins Garrett and me to explain what writing a good book does for your business and how to use a book to build your email list.Chandler walks us through the eight milestones in the process of writing a quality book and shares his best practices for finishing a rough draft in just 30 days!Listen in for Chandler’s insight on having a successful book launch and learn how to write a bestseller that attracts potential investors to your real estate syndication business.For full episode show notes visit: https://themichaelblank.com/podcasts/session347/

How do you become a full-time investor who owns more than 1,000 doors by the age of 27?According to Adrian Salazar, the secret is having the guts to go out and be different.Adrian started wholesaling SFHs as a freshman in college and closed on his first apartment building as a sophomore. Today, he is Managing Member at Two Ten Management, and he controls $8.8M in multifamily assets.On this episode of the podcast, Adrian joins Garrett and me to explain how the sales skills he developed early on help him succeed as a young real estate entrepreneur.Adrian shares the wholesaling strategies he uses to find off-market deals and describes his approach to building rapport with owners.Listen in for Adrian’s advice on putting yourself in the right rooms and learn to take action on YOUR real estate investing goals—no matter how young or old you are!For full episode show notes visit: https://themichaelblank.com/podcasts/session345/

Running a business is never just about the business. Being a successful entrepreneur means finding balance between your personal and professional life. But if you want your relationship to work, you need a partner who energizes you. Someone who helps you become the best version of yourself. So, how does a real estate investor build a fulfilling family life? How do you successfully navigate marriage, parenthood and business?On this episode of Financial Freedom with Real Estate Investing, Garrett sits down with me and my wife Vivian to find out what makes our 25-year marriage work.Vivian and I explain why we struggled with working on the business together and how we set boundaries around work and family time.Listen in to understand why we decided to homeschool our kids and learn how we set goals as a family to live intentionally, in alignment with our values!For full episode show notes visit: https://themichaelblank.com/podcasts/session345/

One of the beautiful things about investing in real estate is its tax benefits. And the 1031 exchange is a common strategy we use to avoid paying capital gains.But most of us haven’t studied IRC Section 1031 enough to know ALL the ways we can use the tax code to reinvest our real estate profits—rather than handing them over to Uncle Sam.Dave Foster is the 1031 exchange expert, qualified intermediary and tax strategist behind The 1031 Investor, a platform that helps investors build and preserve real estate wealth.Dave has supported thousands of investors in achieving financial freedom by maximizing their reinvestment opportunities.On this episode of Financial Freedom with Real Estate Investing, Dave joins Garrett to discuss the rules for doing a 1031 exchange in a syndication and describe what to look for in a qualified intermediary or QI.Dave shares his top strategies for buying time in a like-kind exchange and walks us through the tax benefits of converting an investment property into your primary residence.Listen in to understand the common mistakes investors make in a 1031 exchange and learn how to make the most of the tax code and accelerate your path to financial freedom with real estate!For full episode show notes visit: https://themichaelblank.com/podcasts/session344/

Owning class D properties in neighborhoods plagued by gang violence, prostitution and drug abuse is not easy. But it does give an owner-operator the street smarts to keep themselves, their employees and properties safe. And it makes for some pretty crazy stories!On this episode of Financial Freedom with Real Estate Investing, Garrett follows up on his previous solo episode with more stories from his experience as an investor in Chicago’s most dangerous neighborhoods.Garrett discusses what he did to prevent theft at vacant multifamily properties and describes how firing a maintenance worker nearly caused a gang war at one of his buildings.Listen in for the story of how Garrett’s maintenance team caught a killer and find out what it’s like to collect rent at night not too far from Chicago’s infamous O Block.For full episode show notes visit: https://themichaelblank.com/podcasts/session343/

All CPAs are not created equal. And if you’re working with an accountant who doesn’t understand real estate tax strategy, you may be leaving tens of thousands of dollars on the table.Thomas Castelli, CPA, CFP, is Partner at Hall CPA, an entrepreneurial accounting firm that helps real estate investors minimize tax and maximize profit.Out of college, Thomas landed a ‘dream job’ at a traditional accounting firm but soon realized he wasn’t on the path to the lifestyle he wanted. To achieve financial freedom, he built a portfolio of passive investments in apartment buildings before participating in his first deal as an active partner.On this episode of Financial Freedom with Real Estate Investing, Thomas joins Garrett and me to discuss why he chose to put his money in multifamily over other investments.Thomas offers a high-level overview of how the taxation of real estate works, explaining who benefits from bonus depreciation and why we can report a loss despite earning substantial cashflow.Listen in for Thomas’ top strategies for deferring capital gains and find out why tax planning is so important for real estate investors!For full episode show notes visit: https://themichaelblank.com/podcasts/session343/

In the spring of 2020, store shelves were empty. And supply chain issues have disrupted businesses of all kinds ever since—including real estate.But what, exactly, is causing these problems in the supply chain? And when will things get back to normal?Jeff Davis is both a supply chain expert and real estate investor, serving as a senior sales executive for a Fortune 100 global logistics firm and Managing Partner at Bridgestone Holdings, where he has built a portfolio of 952 units.On this episode of Financial Freedom with Real Estate Investing, Jeff joins Garrett and me to explain what is causing our ongoing supply chain issues and why things haven’t normalized since the pandemic.Jeff discusses how rising interest rates impact the supply chain and shares his take on when construction costs might return to pre-COVID levels.Listen in for Jeff’s insight on underwriting deals in the current economic environment and learn how to navigate supply chain concerns as a multifamily investor.For full episode show notes visit: https://themichaelblank.com/podcasts/session342/

When you’re a new real estate syndicator with a smaller network, you can keep track of investors with a spreadsheet and work through the process of raising money manually.But as you grow your investor database, it becomes more and more tedious to do things this way.The good news is, you can leverage investor management software to automate the process of drafting legal documents and wiring money, saving yourself and your investors a lot of time and trouble.So, how do you choose an investor portal that’s the right fit for you and your syndication business?Perry Zheng is Founder and CEO of Cash Flow Portal, a real estate syndication platform that helps syndicators streamline the process of raising equity, automate operations and attract more investors.Perry began his career as a software engineer, taking on roles at Twitter, Amazon and Lyft. He has also acted as lead sponsor on three apartment syndications, raising $20M to build a portfolio of 850 units.On this episode of Financial Freedom with Real Estate Investing, Perry joins Garrett and me to explain how his frustrations with the process of raising capital inspired the creation of Cash Flow Portal.Perry discusses how GPs and LPs alike benefit from using an investor management platform and describes what differentiates Cash Flow Portal from other syndication software on the market.Listen in for Perry’s insight on vetting investor management software and find out if Cash Flow Portal is the right long-term partner for you!For full episode show notes visit: https://themichaelblank.com/podcasts/session340/