Inspiring stories of active agents investing in real estate and building passive income. We'll dive into how they are delivering a high level of service to clients while spotting opportunities, negotiating with homeowners, signing deals, and building additional streams of income. You'll come away from each episode with practical tips, tactics, and action steps, while being inspired to open your eyes to the potential deals are all around you!
Episodes
Thursday Mar 14, 2024
Thursday Mar 14, 2024
Many agents are tired of the rollercoaster ride that small multifamily took them on in 2023 - including us. The constant stress of dealing with high-risk ventures, the disappointing returns that didn't match the effort invested is a far cry from the passive income dream.
Managing these units demands constant effort, hardly constituting the 'passive income' dream. And let's not forget the lurking beast of deferred maintenance, ready to devour profits which is why we sold all our rental properties.
How do rental properties often fall short in delivering promised rewards? Is there a smarter way to invest our resources?
In this episode, I talk about the reasons why we sold our rental properties, how the risk is not worth the meager reward and why we don’t recommend buying them right now.
Do not allow 100% of your income to come from residential real estate. -Tom Cafarella
Three Things You’ll Learn In This Episode
-Swimming against the tide
They say going against the status quo is smart, but can it tire us out in some situations?
-Individual case situations in rental properties
Every case is different so how do we figure out what works for us?
-Risk vs. reward
Is the risk in rental properties higher than the reward?
Thursday Feb 29, 2024
Thursday Feb 29, 2024
If you’re looking for investing opportunities, you’d think the MLS is the right place to find them. Hundreds of properties and motivated sellers at your fingertips, and as an agent, you have front row access.
Well, that’s not the case…
Relying on the MLS to find deals might just be the worst way to run an investing business, especially in this market. While some people can certainly find great opportunities on the retail market, those are extreme rare cases. Seasoned investors looking to build a predictable, reliable business go off-market.
Why is the MLS the last place we go looking for deals? Are there cases where MLS properties can work in our favor?
In this episode, I answer a question I get asked constantly: why we don’t buy MLS properties.
The odds of you getting a great deal on the MLS are far less than if you were to get it off-market. -Tom Cafarella
Three Things You’ll Learn In This Episode
-Two ponds, two different results
You might think the MLS and the off-market are similar. What’s the difference between the two?
-Why it’s hard to get a discount on the MLS
Properties off the MLS definitely don’t work for flips and quick turn deals, but what if you want to do a long-term buy and hold?
-The secret competitor you’re not aware of
If an MLS property needs a ton of work, does that make it a great investment deal?
Thursday Feb 22, 2024
Thursday Feb 22, 2024
Selling real estate can be lucrative, but it's far from a consistent income stream. Some months might bring in substantial earnings, while others leave us scraping by.
It's a constant juggling act - trying to maintain a comfortable lifestyle while navigating the unpredictable nature of the market.
Diversifying our income streams is the key to overcoming this challenge. By supplementing our earnings from sales with investments, we can create a more stable financial foundation.
Is the benefit of just selling real estate enough? How does investing allow us to build wealth and achieve financial freedom?
In this episode, I talk about the real reason why I stopped just selling real estate and tapped into being an agent investor. I also talk about how investing helped me gain autonomy over my business and life.
What investing is doing for you is giving you leverage. -Tom Cafarella
Three Things You’ll Learn In This Episode
-Why flips are necessary
Is flipping and fixing homes a quick way to earn big chunks of income?
-Investing and autonomy
How does investing free up our workload and give us time back to spend elsewhere?
-Spending resources with no results
Why do some agents spend their resources on building a team and then disbanding it soon after?
Thursday Feb 08, 2024
Thursday Feb 08, 2024
9 out of 10 conversations I have with agents go something like this: “I’ve read the book, attended seminars, listened to the podcasts, but I don’t know what the actual first step to investing is”.
They like selling real estate, but they are frustrated with the income rollercoaster. They know they want to start acquiring assets, but they don’t know how to take action.
They think the thing keeping them from achieving their goals is money, but that’s actually not true.
What do we actually need to get started and why is it a lot easier than we think?
In this episode, I talk about the investing advice I give agents on their first call with me.
Your biggest obstacle isn’t that you don’t have money. The biggest obstacle is that you don’t have deals. -Tom Cafarella
Three Things You’ll Learn In This Episode
-The first step
How can we use our easy access to real estate to start building up our investing war chests?
-Get them to call you first
People in your sphere know that you’re in real estate. Why will they call an investor before they call an agent they know, like and trust?
-One agent’s worst listing is an agent investor’s opportunity
Why are fellow agents a good source of off-market, discounted properties?
Thursday Jan 11, 2024
Thursday Jan 11, 2024
Real estate sales can certainly earn you a great living, but can you easily retire on transactions alone? I don’t believe so…
Many would argue that if an agent sells many homes and saves the money they make, they can gain financial freedom. While that’s true, only the elite of the elite can achieve that. With investing on the other hand, you can be average and still guarantee wealth and retirement.
Why is it unrealistic to think you can retire on sales alone?
In this episode, I tackle a much debated subject in real estate, and share why investing is the ultimate cheat code to wealth.
Investing is truly the Average Joe way to achieve financial freedom. -Tom Cafarella
Three Things You’ll Learn In This Episode
-Investing allows you to work smarter, not harder
Many people argue that an agent who sells many homes and saves money can gain freedom. How realistic is this if we look at the stats?
-The Average Joe path to wealth
Most of us know people who got wealthy through investing. Why is it hard to find someone who got wealthy through traditional sales?
-Even luxury agents can’t get wealthy without investing
Can you get wealthy through sales by raising your average price point?
Thursday Jan 04, 2024
Thursday Jan 04, 2024
Every December, people come up with predictions for what the real estate market holds in the new year. In this market especially, many of the forecasts are extreme. The truth about home prices might not be quite so dramatic.
We can’t predict the future with 100% accuracy, but we can certainly assess probabilities to get an idea of what’s coming. Home prices aren’t driven by one thing - there are multiple values that play into them. The 2023 real estate market was flat, but 2024 could be different.
What are some of the key factors that influence home prices? Instead of just focusing on market conditions, what should we be doing?
In this episode, I share my predictions for the real estate market, and the variables influencing my position.
The most important thing in 2024 isn’t to know what’s happening in the market. It’s having a great plan. -Tom Cafarella
Three Things You’ll Learn In This Episode
-Why it’s hard to make accurate market predictions
Many people are predicting extreme highs or extreme lows. Are the conditions in the market present for any of these scenarios?
-Jobs, wages and inflation
How do these 3 factors play into the home prices and what can we expect in 2024?
-The good news for real estate professionals
There are a ton of people waiting on the sidelines to purchase homes. Will they take action even if rates don’t go down?
Thursday Dec 21, 2023
Thursday Dec 21, 2023
For agents, up to 20% of the listings we come across can be flipped to our own investment deals, but we don’t believe we have the vehicle to do so. There are tons of sellers who are better suited with not taking the traditional listing route, and all it really takes is identifying the opportunity and showing up with a cash offer.
How do we know if a listing could be an investment deal? Why do we need to have the offer before we get to the appointment?
In this episode, I’m sharing how we add cash offers to our listing presentations, and why it creates the ultimate win-win for everyone.
10-20% of all sellers want a cash offer and would be better off taking a cash offer than a listing. -Tom Cafarella
Three Things You’ll Learn In This Episode
-Why fetching top dollar isn’t every seller’s top priority
Why would someone ever want to sell their house for below fair market value?
-How to get ahead of the competition
Why do we need to be ready to sign on the dotted line before we even get to the appointment?
-How to easily draw up your offer
How do we calculate the right number for a cash offer?
Thursday Dec 07, 2023
Thursday Dec 07, 2023
My path to financial freedom began when we combined traditional real estate sales with investing, but that success story didn’t happen overnight. It’s taken a few iterations, pivots and even mistakes to get to where we are today - and we also learned a ton of lessons along the way.
In order to diversify your income away from selling homes traditionally, taking action is key. Even if you don’t have a ton of money and experience, you can get started.
How do you shrink the space between your dream and taking action? How do you stop being a victim to the ups and downs of the market?
In this episode, I share the origin story of my business, how I got into real estate and everything I’ve learned on my journey.
While I didn’t get into real estate to flip houses, flipping homes can give you big chunks of income that then can be used as down payments for passive income assets. -Tom Cafarella
Three Things You’ll Learn In This Episode
-From pre-med to business
How did I discover that I wanted to be an entrepreneur and how did real estate become my vehicle of choice?
-The deal that completely changed my life
How did a listing appointment become the investing deal that changed the trajectory of my business?
-Quality over cash flow
Building a rental portfolio is an incredible way to build wealth and gain financial freedom, but how do we make sure we’re not buying the wrong kinds of homes?
Thursday Nov 30, 2023
Thursday Nov 30, 2023
Unless you want to lose a lot of money, the MLS is the worst place to find investing deals and set yourself up for success. Off-market properties are where we need to focus our efforts. The good news is, if you’re an agent, you often unknowingly come across great deals that haven’t hit the MLS yet.
How do we spot these properties and how can we structure the deals if we don’t have the capital upfront?
In this episode, I’m sharing strategies to launch and grow your investing operation through off-market deals.
Deals are scarce, that’s why you need to learn how to find them off-market. -Tom Cafarella
Three Things You’ll Learn In This Episode
- The options we have for finding deals that aren’t on the MLS
How do we find an off-market deal at the click of a button? - How to set up an agent referral program
How do we build such solid relationships with fellow agents, they spot off-market deals for us? - Why we shouldn’t solely focus on getting listings
Can we turn a potential listing lead into our next investment deal?
Wednesday Nov 22, 2023
Wednesday Nov 22, 2023
Agents come across great investing deals every single day, but they don’t go after as many as they could. That’s usually because they lack capital, construction expertise or a combination of both.
Through our partnership program, we’ve eliminated both of these barriers and created a way for agents to get off the transaction rollercoaster. This is incredibly important in the market we’re in right now. In a market where transaction count is down by up to 30%, creating another lane of income is key to our survival and success.
In this episode, I share 10 case studies of real estate agents who partnered with us, how they found the deals, and how we created the ultimate win-win.
By real estate recession, we don’t necessarily mean a consumer recession where prices are down, but a transactional recession, where volume has gone down. -Tom Cafarella
Three Things You’ll Learn In This Episode
-A transactional recession
Why are agents feeling the pinch in this market?
-How to keep your eyes open for opportunity
There are many unique ways agents come across deals. What are some of the ways our partners found theirs?
-Knocking down barriers to investment
You don’t need to have capital or construction know-how to do a deal, how do we provide the 2 in a win-win deal?