About the Episode On this episode of Next Level Agents, I’m joined by Sam Parr, the man behind The Hustle, the daily tech and business email. He calls The Hustle an information company geared towards youngish entrepreneurs, and people who are growth-minded.   Sam Parr is the CEO and co-founder of The Hustle, one of America's fastest growing media companies. Each morning they give over 1m users/day the important business news they need to succeed. The company generates 7 figures in revenue each month, and has grown to a team of 30 employees. The company also hosts Hustle Con a popular conference with thousands of attendees. The hustle is a fast-growing, profitable without any venture capital. Sam has also started and sold multiple companies, invests in real estate and startups.  Sam’s journey in business and the story of The Hustle is one of learning from some of the most legendary names in media like Ted Turner, and creating something that is so relevant and impactful right now. He understands the value of seeing trends before they are blatantly obvious to everyone else, and being willing to do things differently to how everyone else is doing. Add to that a sharp, brilliant and unique communication style, and you have an unstoppable media maven, and an equally unstoppable brand.   Building a business of note isn’t easy, and it requires us to constantly learn, develop, and iterate new pathways and approaches. The people who do this well understand that what really makes an impact is courage, mental and emotional toughness. As Sam puts it, business excellence is 20% intelligence and 80% emotional.  In Today’s Episode, We Talk About;   - The backstory of The Hustle and who the publication is geared to.  - Why Sam started a media company, why Ted Turner inspires him and how Sam honed the voice and tone of The Hustle.  - How Sam and his team built to a million subscribers in a short amount of time.  - Why The Hustle built their own email sending technology.   - How The Hustle grew to 7 figures monthly and a staff of 25-30 people.   - The value of seeing trends before they are blatantly obvious to everyone else. - The most misunderstood thing about The Hustle.  Guest Info   Sam Parr is the CEO and co-founder of The Hustle, one of America's fastest growing media companies. Each morning they give over 1m users/day the important business news they need to succeed. The company generates 7 figures in revenue each month, and has grown to a team of 30 employees. The company also hosts Hustle Con a popular conference with thousands of attendees. The hustle is a fast-growing, profitable without any venture capital. Sam has also started and sold multiple companies, invests in real estate and startups.    Website: https://thehustle.co/ GET 50% OFF WITH THE DISCOUNT CODE NLA  Twitter: @theSamParr

  As we continue to navigate the choppy waters of a pandemic economy, we’re still in the process of gathering data on how different demographics have been impacted economically. One of the companies exploring the pressures of the pandemic economy is Motley Fool’s The Ascent (https://www.fool.com/the-ascent/)   In a recent study and article, they put their focus on renters. There’s been a lot of focus on how homeowners have been affected, but renters are also in a precarious situation. 50 million renters have experienced immediate job and income loss; creating financial challenges many feel they will never recover from.    What makes the time we’re living through so challenging is that there’s no precedent for this. There’s nothing to fall back on or refer back to, so what’s playing out is truly uncharted territory. What sectors, demographics and states have been hit hardest in this pandemic economy? What assistance is available to affected renters? The Ascent’s Dann Albright shares insights on how this economy has impacted our population.  Quotes    Make smart decisions where you can, save up an emergency fund and dip into it in times like these. -Dann Albright     States that shut down their businesses early and aggressively tend to have lower infection rates but also have high unemployment rates right now. -Dann Albright    Things We Learned from Dann Albright   Renters are getting hit harder than homeowners  Renters have less housing security and are at the mercy of landlords. Programs have been put in place to help mortgage payers, but in many states renters don’t have access to the same assistance.    Many states have been affected in surprising ways States like Nevada and renters who live there have been hit hard by the pandemic because they rely on tourism and hospitality. Surprisingly there are many other states that on the surface would seem unaffected, but actually rely on leisure and hospitality too.    We won’t fully know the effects of this crisis for years to come It’s so easy to speculate, but the truth is, we will get the final data on how this has affected us months and years from now, not immediately. This situation is ongoing and evolving daily. We’ll have a clearer picture once the dust settles.   

In this episode, I’m joined by coach and real estate leader, Josh Cooley. Josh has walked the real estate business journey, from new and struggling single agent, to top producing team leader and multiple-brokerage owner, and now highly impactful real estate coach. In Josh’s own words, every step in his growth has been the natural next step in production and growth, made possible through hard work and applying a coaching mindset to everything. Josh Cooley is a team leader, broker-owner and real estate coach. He jumped into real estate in 2008, a time when most agents were exiting right and left. Focusing on the lead generation and working his database daily, Josh quickly made it to the top 5% of Real Estate Agents in Eugene, Oregon. 10 years later Josh owns and operates a top producing real estate team in Eugene and Keller Williams franchise in Southern Oregon. Josh’s greatest business passion is coaching and mentoring agents to reach their potential. He specializes in coaching agents in production of 40 closings to over 700 closings per year. From independent agents to team owners Josh coaches his clients to think like champions and win! In order to grow our businesses to meet their full potential, it’s necessary not to focus on what everyone else is doing, but to delve into our own journeys and figure out where the gaps are so we can adjust accordingly. One of the biggest gaps business owners have is a lack of balance between their lead sources, ending up with a business that relies too heavily on one source and isn’t weighted equally. - Selling 8 homes in the first 2 years, and the lessons Josh learned during that time. - Going out on his own and building a team. - Josh on applying a coaching mindset to everything he does. - The progression to coaching and becoming head coach and Reger Coaching. - What it means to “F* your business”. - Josh’s course and who the ideal student is. Guest Info Josh Cooley is a team leader, broker-owner and real estate coach. He jumped into real estate in 2008, a time when most agents were exiting right and left. Focusing on the lead generation and working his database daily, Josh quickly made it to the top 5% of Real Estate Agents in Eugene, Oregon. 10 years later Josh owns and operates a top producing real estate team in Eugene and Keller Williams franchise in Southern Oregon. Josh’s greatest business passion is coaching and mentoring agents to reach their potential. He specializes in coaching agents in production of 40 closings to over 700 closings per year. From independent agents to team owners Josh coaches his clients to think like champions and win! To sign up for the course, visit https://regercoachingandconsulting.com/f-your-business/. Early sign ups get a $100 discount.

Zillow Offers resumes in five more markets, bringing the total to 20 out of 24 markets Mortgage rates fall to a new all-time low this week (again) Tappable home equity rises to record $6.5 trillion Foreclosure threat grows as COVID-19 surges, Fed says 31% of renters doubt they will be able to pay next month’s rent on time Home prices in Florida and Arizona expected to drop due to COVID-19 “perfect storm”

In this episode, I’m joined by real estate investor, entrepreneur, marketer and speaker, Scott Carson. Scott and his team specialize in buying non-performing discounted notes from banks and hedge funds, an investment vehicle which allows them to help borrowers and provide value to financial institutions. Note investing is a niche that will likely uptick over the next 6-12 months with everything that’s happening in the world and the growth of new consumer demands.    Scott is the founder and CEO of We Close Notes. We Close Notes is an Austin-based, defaulted note buying company. They specialize in note-investing and finding non-performing notes on residential and commercial properties and purchasing these notes for their own portfolio. He is also a nationally syndicated radio host of the popular podcast, The Note Closers Show which has millions of listeners across 17 AM and FM radio stations and downloads across 130 countries. Scott is also an investor, entrepreneur, marketer and featured speaker and educator at dozens of investment clubs and real estate workshops across the country. He also hosts The Note Closers Show.    Note investing requires a different mindset and perspective to everything else we know about real estate investing. It requires us to be more numbers focused, look beyond the emotional connection or “flip potential” of the property. With the right mindset and strategies, this can be a highly valuable skill to add to our set.  Time Stamps    01:28 - Scott’s background and how he got started.  04:52 - Non-performing notes and how they work.  08:18 - Why banks would want to sell off non-performing mortgage notes.  11:27 - The most valuable notes to invest in.  27:29 - The people who don’t do well and people who do well in this niche.   Guest Info   Scott is the founder and CEO of We Close Notes. We Close Notes is an Austin-based, defaulted note buying company. They specialize in finding non-performing notes on residential and commercial properties and purchasing these notes for their own portfolio. He is also the host of the podcast, The Note Closers Show.  Scott is also an investor, entrepreneur, marketer, and featured speaker and educator at dozens of investment clubs and real estate workshops across the country.    Website: https://weclosenotes.com/

John Legend to Houston Association of Realtors: 'Fix the real problem’     GSE forbearance rate drops for third week       Supreme Court rules against CFPB structure  

In the final part of my conversation with Adam Robinson, we shift to markets, investing and financial decision making in an increasingly complex world. This world is filled with often surprising and even contradictory information, and as investors, the response should be to find the opportunities in the anomalies.    This is a momentum market where things are amplified and bifurcated. Investors have to step and act wisely. We have to keep things simple. Be aware of crucial information and check our own confirmation bias. Social implications have financial ones too.     How do we find the opportunities in the things that don’t make sense? What pressures and forces are more pronounced right now than ever before? Adam Robinson shares how to be a smart investor in this highly perilous world.  We also discussed; How to navigate a deflationary world How to stay in your circle of competence and the power of having an edge  Buffett's number 1 for investing is don’t lose money.  Why we need to check our confirmation bias  The importance of reinventing ourselves and/or pivoting Guest Info   Adam Robinson is an American educator, freelance author, and a US Chess Federation life master. He is the co-founder of The Princeton Review. He currently works as a global macro advisor to the heads of some of the world's largest hedge funds through his company Robinson Global Strategies. He advises the heads of large hedge funds, family offices, and other financial institutions on all global asset classes–global equities, US sectors, bonds, currencies, and commodities–using a unique approach that combines game theory, systems thinking, Bayesian analysis, and behavioral economics to outthink global markets and anticipate when major trends will change.

In the third part of my epic conversation with Adam Robinson, we discuss why no one is immune to the stupid zone. Even the most careful, intelligent and cautious people and even virtuosos, can make mistakes that from the outside looking in seem incredibly stupid.    It’s important for us to become aware of the fact that we’re all prone to the stupid zone, and that there are conditions under which we can end up in a zone where we could make a similar mistake.  We also discussed;  The lesson YoYo Ma teaches us about the stupid zone  What the Great Game is and how can we play it  How to create more fun and delight in the world Guest Info   Adam Robinson is an American educator, freelance author, and a US Chess Federation life master. He is the co-founder of The Princeton Review. He currently works as a global macro advisor to the heads of some of the world's largest hedge funds through his company Robinson Global Strategies. He advises the heads of large hedge funds, family offices, and other financial institutions on all global asset classes–global equities, US sectors, bonds, currencies, and commodities–using a unique approach that combines game theory, systems thinking, Bayesian analysis, and behavioral economics to outthink global markets and anticipate when major trends will change.  

EXPI Stock News    Mortgage lending will surge to a 14-year high this year, MBA says   CFPB to eliminate DTI requirement from qualified mortgage standards

In the second part of my conversation with Adam Robinson, we discuss the work and research he did for his book How Not to Be Stupid, and what the dynamics of stupidity are in today’s world.    This is a timely discussion because by the measure of Adam’s criteria of stupidity, we’re in the danger zone now. Adam shares why we need to be cautious when we find ourselves in the stupid zone, and how the stupid zone creates behavioral blind spots that make us more susceptible to disaster.    What makes the stupid zone even more perilous is that it not only makes us blind to crucial information, we’re not even aware that we’re blind. In the stupid zone, we need to proceed slowly and with caution. Unfortunately, much of our society isn’t proceeding with caution, making everything even worse. Adam shares what action, if any, we can take in the stupid zone.  We also discussed;  The true definition of stupidity and why intelligent people can still be in the stupid zone.  How authority and group dynamics play into stupidity.  Why rushing amplifies stupidity in these times.  The riskiness of life right now    Guest Info   Adam Robinson is an American educator, freelance author, and a US Chess Federation life master. He is the co-founder of The Princeton Review. He currently works as a global macro advisor to the heads of some of the world's largest hedge funds through his company Robinson Global Strategies. He advises the heads of large hedge funds, family offices, and other financial institutions on all global asset classes–global equities, US sectors, bonds, currencies, and commodities–using a unique approach that combines game theory, systems thinking, Bayesian analysis, and behavioral economics to outthink global markets and anticipate when major trends will change.