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March 15th, 2023

Something I’m Reading

Still working through “The Greatness Mindset: Unlock the Power of Your Mind and Live Your Best Life Today,” written by my friend, Lewis Howes. Really enjoying it!

Something I Photographed

My son, Wilder, dancing as the sun goes down.

Something I’m Excited About

My new podcast is coming soon...  I'm flying into LA this weekend to record a few episodes with some people I really look up to!

Something I Can Answer
I’ll be answering two questions asked by a BTB subscriber. Have a question you want me to answer? Reply to this text with your question!

Question: “What do you believe are the most important values that contribute to personal growth?”

Oooh that's a huge loaded question. But I'll say this succinctly:  Self-awareness: Understanding your strengths, weaknesses, emotions, and motivation are essential for growth. Self-awareness helps you make informed decisions and enables you to recognize areas for improvement.

But let me give you a few more as well:

Curiosity: A curious mindset encourages you to explore new ideas, ask questions, and seek knowledge. This continuous learning process can help you grow and adapt to change more effectively.

Resilience: Overcoming challenges and learning from setbacks is crucial for personal growth. Resilience enables you to cope with difficult situations and maintain a positive attitude, even when facing adversity.

Empathy: Understanding and sharing the feelings of others allows you to forge stronger relationships and develop better communication skills. Empathy promotes emotional intelligence, which is vital for personal and professional growth.

Integrity: Honesty, ethics, and a strong moral compass are important for personal growth. Upholding these values helps build trust in relationships and fosters self-esteem.

Discipline: Setting goals and developing the self-control to follow through on commitments is essential for growth. Discipline helps you stay focused, manage your time effectively, and maintain consistency in your efforts.

Adaptability: Being open to change and able to adjust your behavior, beliefs, or approach when necessary is a valuable skill for personal growth. Adaptability enables you to thrive in diverse situations and continue learning throughout your life.

Humility: Recognizing that you don't have all the answers and being open to feedback from others can lead to significant growth. Humility encourages continuous learning and self-improvement.

Gratitude: Appreciating the positive aspects of your life and expressing gratitude can improve mental well-being and foster a growth mindset. It helps you maintain a balanced perspective and focus on what truly matters.

Perseverance: Pursuing long-term goals and maintaining a steady course, even in the face of obstacles, is key to personal growth. Perseverance builds character and teaches valuable lessons about patience and determination.

Question: “What do you see as the biggest opportunities and challenges facing the real estate industry in the next five years?”

In most markets, I think we are going to see much slower rent growth and appreciation over the next few years, despite inflation (although inflation will keep values going up, a weaker economy will fight price increases).

So, this is definitely going to be more challenging than the past few years.  Cash flow will be harder to come by with retail purchases (meaning, if you just buy an MLS deal, it'll be next-to-impossible to find great cash flow). You're going to have to go off-market for cash flow deals. Airbnb is going to be more and more difficult, as more and more cities are cracking down on vacation rentals, due to housing shortages.

Where do I see opportunities?

I think seller financing or subject-to investing will be powerful, as a lot of burned out landlords and homeowners have a lot of equity and they have a super low interest rates. We have to be careful here, but there is opportunity there.

I think that there is also huge opportunity in the "sub niches" of rental properties, like "assisted living" or "low income housing" or "rent by the room."  Where can your incredible systems, processes, hiring and people and business-savviness give you an edge? There's opportunity there. 

Finally, I think there is interesting opportunity, when you do it right, in "build to rent" models. I think when you can pick a great market, design a rental property that will cash flow the most (per dollar spent building), lock in great fixed long-term debt, and manage well... you can make huge profits with minimal headaches in that niche.

Your Friend,

P.S. Comment below and let me know your thoughts on this week’s BTB! Please be friendly :)