How to build a real estate empire the right way

Do you want to know how to build a real estate empire the right way?

My first question would be “WHAT does a real estate empire look like to you?”

My second question would be “WHY do you want to build a real estate empire?”

The reason I ask these questions is two-fold:

1. Most of us don’t KNOW what we really want.
2. Our answers change when we’re asked more questions that require us to think deeper than money.

What I’ve Found Coaching Real Estate Investors…

It may not be true for you, but I’ve found most of the real estate investors I’ve coached begin with MONEY as their main reason to build a real estate empire.

So that means they’re looking for, and usually jump on any possible “opportunity” that will get them that money.

In other words, they don’t have a focus strategy on how to build a real estate empire.

Are you going to do long term rentals, flips, rent-to-own, apartment buildings…?

Do you have a team built from property managers to lawyers & accountants?

Do you have a full time job?  From what are you going to carve out the time to build your real estate empire?

Today’s Pressure Makes Most of our Decisions

I believe one of the reasons many of us don’t know what we truly want is because we’re dealing with the “pressure” of today.

We’re just trying to  “get through things….pay the bills”

So when the idea of building a real estate empire is presented to us, it sounds like the Golden solution…

And there’s nothing wrong with a big dream…

But there is something wrong (in my opinion) when we use money as the driver of our decisions.

Because it clouds our reality in a lot of ways…

Throughout the years of coaching people, I’ve found they start out with ignoring what’s real…the stuff happening in front of them RIGHT NOW….

Because they’re so focused on the bigger dream down the road…

Here’s an example from a student asking how to build a real estate empire:

In one of my  mastermind groups, a woman told us she wanted to learn how to flip properties and move away from what she was doing. (more on that in a bit)

When I asked her “why”, she said “because I can make fifty thousand in a few months…”

So the first challenge that came to mind was “why is she chasing this money?”

Without getting into more detail, and after digging for about ten minutes with her, I helped her discover that  all she wanted was relief from the chaotic mess her current real estate model was in.

Take that in for a moment.

Because this happens more times than I care to say.

We get caught up in something we don’t like and we try to fix it by adding MORE stuff to our lives…

Rather than cleaning up the mess.

Back to our friend; who had a VERY healthy number of doors already because she bought properties (again chasing money) many years before because they were a “great deal”.

I found out they  were  not only  a great deal, but they were “all over the place”.

So my evil scheme decided to focus on that… 🙂

One more thing…

Because they were such a great deal, she inherited the not-so-great tenants along with them.

So by the end of it (in the mastermind room now with me) she added some awesome cash flow to her life ( which EVERY real estate investor say they want )…

But she ALSO added tons of  tenant problems which included constant driving (sometimes an hour between properties) to deal with them.

And if that’s not enough, it wasn’t just a day or two of doing this…it was ALL MONTH LONG.

Talk about “self property management”.

The NEW Question About How To Build A Real Estate Empire

So now her new question went from  “how can I build a real estate empire flipping properties” to “how do I eliminate the stress I have with the tenants?”

I hope you’re really taking notes here.

Because that’s a VERY big gap between the first question of wanting to know how to flip to asking how to solve the REAL problem!

BTW, I never suggested that flipping was bad in any of this discussion. That was never the point.

I just kept asking what she really wanted.

I asked WHY she wanted to learn how to flip properties.

And the only reasons she kept coming back to was getting out of all the stress dealing with her tenants.

And of course…that she could make a lot of money FAST.

Now I didn’t have time to explain the good and bad of flipping – and I’m in NO WAY an expert in that area…

But I asked her this important question:

“How do you know if you’re not replacing one stress for another?”

I’m sure you’ll agree that every real estate model has some form of stress, and even though I have never flipped a property, I have close friends who do it for a living.

So, I know a bit about what it takes to have it run smoothly.  Crews, permits and so on.

( if you want to learn flipping from the real side without the hype, check out my boy Ian Szabo – he has two great books…Fix and Flip and From Renos to Riches – BTW, those are my direct links on Amazon and I’ll  get a small piece of the pie if you buy them through there.)

Let me drive this example home for you…

It doesn’t mean she will never do a flip, but I wanted to point out that hoping for ‘freedom’ and sanity from the current stress by jumping  from one real estate model to the next is probably going to get you into trouble.

In my experience with coaching clients, it ADDS to the stress, it doesn’t eliminate it.

Always question why you want more.

When it comes to your real estate, it’s important to look DEEP inside for what you want, and then FIT the right real estate components around your lifestyle.  Be fully aware of what you’re willing to commit to.

Commitment doesn’t mean “try”…it means you’ll do everything possible.

Your real estate business is there for a reason.  It’s NOT there just to “make money”.

What’s YOUR reason?  What “relief” are you looking for?

I always look forward to your comments! Keep this going – let me know you’re thoughts below!