Ep 4: WHY Real Estate Investing - Step #1 is Change Your Mindset

This is when the rubber hits the road and we start getting real about your future as a real estate investor.

Tim Murphy and Robert Grand of Grand Real Estate Investments, help you with your most important asset as a real estate investor -- and that's a proper mindset.

And doing that requires those that have been there.

In episode #4 of the Value Driven Investor Podcast, Tim and Bob take you back to their WHY -- which were the miserable jobs that helped them realize they needed more control over their future. They realized that if they didn't take control, the dream of Living Life on Their Terms would never be realized.

In this episode, you will hear the podcasts that inspire Tim and Bob, the books that inspire Tim and Bob, and the early mistakes they want you to avoid.

This episode is absolutely pivotal to anyone considering a future that includes real estate investing.

SUBSCRIBE TO THE VALUE DRIVEN INVESTOR PODCAST

lISTEN nOW!

Watch the Episode!

In This Episode….

• (1:09) Bob Grand updates us on the "biggest project of my life."

• (6:21) Tim's latest deal that involves the challenges of finding property

• (15:31) The first job when Tim realized he needed to do something else

• (17:00) Bob's job that convinced him he needed to start investing in real estate

• (21:58) Who is a Value Driven investor?

• (23:14) 3 steps to start your real estate investing journey

• (23:46) Tim's 2 favorite books that will help you with mindset, the first step to becoming a successful real estate investor

• (26:58) The easiest way to get started in real estate

• (29:04) Bob's biggest mistake when he started down the path of real estate investing

• (37:11) Why the bottom of the market may be less scary than when times are good

Full Transcript

• Tim Murphy (00:00):

  We're back at the value driven investor podcast, and I'm excited to be back on with my good buddy Bob grant. Grando Hey, what's up buddy?

  Tim Murphy (01:00):

  How's it going? Hey dude, you know, I, I'm excited to talk to you again and I want to know more about that more family apartment project that you're working on. Give us a little insight on what you're doing there, but

  Robert Grand (01:11):

  It's the biggest project in my life. That's for sure. 17 units going to convert a laundry room into another unit. So I have 18 units and we're basically going steps back on all the units. It was a building built in the 1940s. And so when we opened up the walls, we found two by three construction, like whoa, really, really weak, weak, weak construction. One thing that a lesson I learned out of this whole thing is I didn't you know, typically when things pull up and title, like if it's in a flood zone, it typically will pop, you know, and then you'll know it's in a flood zone, this and that. And you make the decision. Well, this one didn't but it ends up being in a flood zone. The front part of the property, like the very front of the buildings are in the flood zone.

  Robert Grand (01:54):

  So now I'm getting this whole lesson and FEMA flood regulation and how I have to do this crazy thing where I can, I can work on the building, but I can't go over 50% of the improvement. Otherwise I have to bring it all up to current FEMA standards, which would mean jacking these buildings up about, you know, feet in the air. So that's been like the nightmare with it, but I it's a small town. So it's really fortunately pretty easy to work with people in a small town. Cause they kind of understand that you're not going to Jack buildings from the 1940s up four or five feet in the air. So basically what we have to do is go through and like value out the building and get a re tax assessed, you know, when I get through X part of it.

  Robert Grand (02:30):

  So then I'm saving the very front two units to get done after that, after the reassessment. So then that won't go over the 50% thing. It's really crazy even think that you would even have to do that. The, the, the alternative that I learned actually from my experience being a planning commissioner for three or four years is I could get a variance from the planning commission to circumvent that whole process, but I'm trying to work with it as best I can, but in the end man, it's like one of those things I'm not going to stop. They're not gonna, they're not going to have a choice. You got to keep, I've got five units that are in the stud framed spot right now. And a couple other things that we're doing to it. We went ahead because the building inspector really thought we should have building sprinklers put in it's costly. But when I really broke the cost down for all the units, it was like 1500 bucks a unit. You know, I was like 1500 bucks a unit to add building sprinklers with the insurance savings and stuff over time. I think it would be huge, especially for a really old building, but even though it will be 90% new and it's done, the roof structure will remain intact. That's pretty much about it, you know,

  Tim Murphy (03:34):

  FEMA and you being in a flood zone. Number one, I guess my biggest question is how did you not know about it being in a flood zone? Why wasn't on the map? Was it at one point? I mean, obviously it was built a long time ago, maybe it wasn't in the flood zone and now all of a sudden it is in the flood zone. I mean, well, insight on how you missed out

  Robert Grand (03:53):

  A really good question. So typically in our area in Oregon, you know, title does a search for all that type of stuff, right? So because the bulk of the building was not in the flood zone, I'm not even required to, to hold flood insurance on it. Cause it tends to zone X and zone X doesn't require an our area to have flood insurance. But there's just a little swath of zone E because it's across the street from a river, it's a really deep bank, but there's a little swath where zone AAE touches just the very front of the buildings. And so according to the city, because it touches at all, then I have to, you know, say, okay, then we fall into the FEMA flood zone regulations and

  Tim Murphy (04:33):

  Yeah, you don't have to pay flood. You don't have to have flood insurance, but yet you fall under the regulations with new build. Yeah. Crazy. Right. Well, you're kind of lucky because you don't, the insurance would go through the roof and then you're, you're not so lucky because yeah, I totally get it. The city is always up your if you know, because the city, all they think about is which bucket do you jump into or fall into? Oh, well that little sliver now you're in this bucket. Sorry. Like can't make any exception. I know.

  Robert Grand (05:01):

  And I think like, you know, fortunately, like I, you know, when I, when something like that hits my lap, I just start researching and figuring things out. So I read all the flood zone regulations and I read their city code that they adopted. And I recognize there was a small slice in that code is my last ditch effort. If they become a real giant pain, I'll just take it. The planning commission. I can not imagine a planning commission saying we're going to hold your 1940 building to the standard of jacking it up in the air or doing some sorts of crazy things. So fortunately right now the city has been great to work with and everything's gone good, but you never know that can change. You know? So that's kind of where I'm like, and I just straight up told them, I was like, look, I go, here's the path.

  Robert Grand (05:41):

  And I go, I'll work with you guys. I go, but if this becomes too hard, here's what I'm going to do. And I told them exactly. I go says right here, I can do that. And I go, and I would, and I told them, I, I was a planning commissioner for four years. I completely understand how planning commissions work. And I go, I would understand that the, probably a lot like me, this type of, they would see that pain point that I'm going through and they would see the benefit for me improving 17 or 18 units inside the city to make them really nice for new renters, you know, in a city with a 1% vacancy rate, you know? So they need rental units. Exactly. You're

  Tim Murphy (06:12):

  Doing the right things, but it's just, unfortunately, that's just part of being a, a investor and a developer. Right. Well, I can tell you, I have not. I would say your problem is probably bigger than my problem, but my problem is still to me, pretty significant. I'm working on a deal right now, which is going to be an infill development deal over in a neighborhood called Linden Hills in Minneapolis. And it was funny because I've had my eye on this particular location. It's very sought off, sought after location in Linden Hills. Beautiful lot. I mean, it's just like, it's kind of like the holy grail almost other than being on the lake or having a lake view, it would be the next best thing. And so I've been paying attention to this. There's one agent who's working with the seller, it's off market.

  Tim Murphy (06:58):

  It's not on market. And if you're an investor nowadays, the only good deals are off market deals. So I'm really excited about this one, but then what was even what made this even better was that I came across some baby boomers. They're in a really nice $4 million house in the Dinah and they're ready to downsize while their downsize is going from 4 million to call it almost 2 million. So that's their downside. My type of downside. Yeah, exactly. So I was like, okay, well, where do you want to be? Well, I want to be in Linden Hills. I want to be right by the lake. I want walkability. They want everything right. And I'm just like, oh my gosh, I think I might have a fantastic location for you. Why don't you just go walk by with your husband when you're going and grab a drink or a drink or dinner or whatever, and let me know what you think.

  Tim Murphy (07:43):

  And they went by it and they were like, we love it. Like, absolutely love this location. So I'm like, okay, well, here's what we can do. Here's where, where they're at. I mean, just to put this into perspective, this is going to be somewhere around a $750,000 house that we're going to buy and we're going to tear it down and it's going to cost us about 20 grand to tear down the house. So yeah, we're going to be into this and for just under 800,000 with a dirt lot, and now we get to build something. No. Yeah. So it's pretty awesome, but it's also pretty intense. And we got thrown a curve ball today because we sent over the offer before the weekend and the seller was kind of waiting on it. And this guy is sophisticated. I mean, this guy is a, he's a sophisticated guy. I don't really want to go into details who he is, but this is not some layman. He's not necessarily real estate investor, but he's a savvy

  Robert Grand (08:33):

  Business business guy obviously to own that property.

  Tim Murphy (08:37):

  Yeah. And so what happens is we put it in and then he kind of waits and waits and waits, and then he comes back. So we put in a seven 50 offer and he comes back, guess what? He came back at 800, seven 71. And I told the agent, the agents like, dude, this is it. Like, give me this. I'm like, we gotta be less. He goes, give me this price. This is what he wants. He comes back at seven 70. I'm like, what? Now, if that doesn't explain the market, we're in like sellers, I'm working on a couple other deals. Sellers are just like, okay. They said, yes, well then I didn't ask enough. I need to ask for more. That's

  Robert Grand (09:13):

  So true, man. That's a, it's a very interesting market. And it, it, it almost, it just leads me to the fact that like, you know, it makes me feel like we're at a peak in a market cycle, you know, where people are hearing that everybody's a real estate investor. Everybody, every home seller thinks they can just sell their house off market again, you know, it just reminds me so much of 2006 through 2010 or eight, you know, that timeframe it, it just blows my mind, you know, it's like, but I don't think, you know, values will drop or anything crazy or anything like before, but it's just, you know, it's pretty crazy, you know, our, one of our properties that we just finished, we put it on the market for three 59 and we added a, an offer that we took it 400. Then they bailed out cause I got cold feet.

  Robert Grand (09:53):

  And then we had the backup at three 95 in an area that I wouldn't even live in. You know, I was like, I wouldn't even live here. And this home is 395,000. I mean, it's not like a terrible area. It's just not my choice of an area, you know, but you know, in my home that I live in, you know, it's probably worth way more than that, but you know, I paid like a fraction of the cost for it. So it's just, it's such a weird deal right now with dealing with people and their expectations and handling that, you know, and it's kind of crazy well, and

  Tim Murphy (10:21):

  You know what, that's a great segue into exactly what we're going to talk about today, because today we are going to talk about the very first step of you becoming, or even thinking, not even becoming like the very first step of you even thinking about being a value-driven investor and getting started on this journey. And, and really it's just like you summed up right there, Bob, we are in an environment where literally you have to make a mind shift and I've been stressing about it because I can tell you this, I've invested in property as back in 2009, 2010, 2011, property values were going down. And I'm going to tell you hindsight, now that I'm in the market where property values are skyrocketing up at like 15 to 18 to 20%, it's in my mind, it's more risky to buy as properties are flying up because you have no idea when they're going to go down and you're going to have to sit on it for, for the next full cycle.

  Tim Murphy (11:16):

  Whereas when I was buying properties, when they were going down and losing value every day, I knew at some point it was going to switch and when it switched, I was going to be sitting in the perfect position. And so we are in a complete mind shift right now. And I'm trying to wrap my mind around it, just like you're trying to wrap your mind around it. And that's exactly where you have to be when you're thinking, man, I want to get into being a real estate investor. You have to change your mindset. And that's what we're going to talk about today. But first off I want you guys to know that we have obviously launched the podcast. This is going to be episode number four and we've launched the podcast, but we're also what we're doing is we've put together some really good content and we plan on continually putting together really good content on our public facing Facebook page at value-driven investor.

  Tim Murphy (12:03):

  So if you're interested in kind of seeing some of the projects that I'm working on, some of the projects that Bob's working on, some of the things that we're doing behind the scenes visit our Facebook page and, and, and like our page and follow us because we want to have really good content. And we also want to spark questions. And so that's what we plan on doing on our Facebook page. So go check it out. But the other thing that I'm getting questions about is, Hey, you know, I want to keep, this is a community, right? Like what are you going to do with this community? And you know what, number one, what we're doing is we're trying to create this podcast and really let you guys know what, what we're all about. So value-driven investor.com is our website. There, you can hit apply for membership.

  Tim Murphy (12:40):

  Now you're not really signing up for a membership. All you'd be doing is signing up to get on our email list so that you can stay in the loop on exactly what we're doing, because we do plan on launching a community where we can all help each other out. Because right now it's Bob and I, and I have a couple people that I'm mentoring. And I know Bob has a couple of people he's mentoring, and we're going to show you guys what we're doing for other people, because literally our community is not huge. It's small. It's a couple key people that Bob and I are both helping out to get into the investing world. And we want to share those stories with you. And that's what the community is going to be about. It's going to be about offering you guys a bunch of really good resources that you can use to get in through this survive phase, enter into the thrive phase, finally start investing and then lead by giving and leave that legacy that everybody's looking out for.

  Tim Murphy (13:31):

  So here's where we go. The headline, why real estate investing now, everything in this episode will be great, but if you don't have a why that is big enough, you'll never take action. When have you seen it? I've seen it countless times. People say, I want to do this. I have to do this. This is where I got to go, but they don't know why they want to do it. And so for some people, you know, why do you want to start investing in real estate? Are you a real estate professional who sees investing in real estate as your gateway to life on your terms? Are you a successful professional who is looking to create passive income tax benefits through real estate investing? Or are you an entrepreneur who sees opportunity and building your own real estate empire that you will one day hand off to your kids? Either way being an active investor or a passive investor, real estate is one of the best vehicles on earth for creating and preserving wealth. Grando would you agree with that?

  Robert Grand (14:29):

  A hundred percent, man. I mean, that's, that's a, the last one you hit right. There is exactly what I, I'm looking for, hand it off to my kids, my brother and I that's our mission. We want to be able to do that, but more importantly, I want to, you know, show my kids the path that, that you can create your own life, you know on your own terms and do what you want to do versus work for somebody else. So that's, that's one of the main, and, and by me growing it and incorporating them in my business, it's going to allow them to take that over, down the road. And I think they know exactly. Yeah.

  Tim Murphy (15:01):

  And that's, and that's why today is so important is because you have to take that first step. You know, the last episode was about jumping out of the plane and you had somebody on your back. Now it's about actually taking that first step in and the first step comes down to why, you know, why do you want to do this? Because investing in real estate is the long game. And if you don't know why you're playing the game, odds are, you're just going to quit. And so for me, there's a couple of different reasons why I started investing in real estate. But the number one reason was is that I came to the conclusion after I worked at cube job while I was in my parents' basement. And my old man's like, Hey kid, you got this figured out, cause you're going to be gone in 12 months.

  Tim Murphy (15:41):

  And I was like, yeah, dad, I know, I know. And so he intentionally put the pressure on me because he always put the pressure on me and I needed that. And I work better under pressure because of my old man. But the thing was, is like, what am I doing? I'm sitting in this cube job. I'm auditing mortgages for four properties in a cube, scrolling through all these documents, making sure they're all perfect. And it was like, I literally wanted to rip the hair out of my head because I'm like, this is not what I'm going to do for the rest of my life. You can ask my mom, she brings it up every once in a while. She just laughs about it because she's like, I remember for that, like I think it was like seven months that I lasted, you came home complaining about being in that cube and just being like a robot and you just could not handle it. And it was, it was true because I did not control my destiny when I was sitting in that cube, staring at mortgage documents, auditing mortgages, like I had no control of where I was going to go or what I was going to do. I had someone telling me here's what you're worth. And here's what, you're how you're going to use your time. That was the opposite of life on my terms. And it was freaking me out. Literally, and so I don't, have you ever had a job like that?

  Robert Grand (16:54):

  Yeah. Yeah. I remember, you know, my first job, the first job and I realized I wanted to get out of it is when I was working as a wild land firefighter at the age of 18 digging, like, you know, digging Fireline on a fire, it was like, oh, I was like, this can not be what my life is going to be. And that was one of the reasons I got into real estate investing. It's also one of the reasons why I got on my path of the city fire department. Cause it was a way better just lifestyle in general. And you know, there at the city fire department, I do that. There is somebody that kinda tells me what I'm supposed to be doing this and that. But for the most part, I control my own destiny there and control a station control my day. And then my schedule is very flexible. So that's what I love about that. Cause I kind of have that autonomy to work. But in, in, in, when I was working as a wild land firefighter all summer, like seven days a week, sometimes I'd be gone for 20 days straight working for bucks an hour. That's with the hazard pay. I was like, there has to be a better way. There is no way this is going to be my life. So,

  Tim Murphy (17:56):

  And, and at the end of the day, like there's nothing wrong with working underneath someone because we can all look at ourselves as leaders and Bob, you and I look at ourselves as leaders and that's for sure, but every leader is also a follower because my belief is this as a team player, you know what? I can't lead the team to victory every single time. Just like Tom Brady. Sure. He's an amazing quarterback, but he knows just as well as anybody, if he doesn't have a good receiver, a good running back, a good offense of line and a great defense, he's not winning the Superbowl, you know, so he can be a great leader, but he's also a great follower because at the end of the day, when he won the Superbowl this year, he knew that one of the biggest reasons he won the super bowl is because his defense was leading the way and he was following them and making sure he did his job.

  Tim Murphy (18:41):

  And so, you know what, there's nothing wrong with following, but it's about doing it on your terms. It's about feeling good about what you're doing. And, and that was the biggest thing for me is like, what am I going to do in my life? Like, what's the game for me. That's going to make me feel like I can be flexible because I love change. That's gonna allow me to be that entrepreneurial spirit. That's gonna allow me to not put a cap on what I'm worth, because I knew that there was nobody that should be able to cap me for what I'm worth, because I ha I, I believed in myself. I said, I have unlimited potential if I put in the work. And so when I read the book, retire, young retire rich by Robert Kiyosaki, it all came down to, what is your vision?

  Tim Murphy (19:21):

  What is your plan? What do you believe in? But most importantly, what are the words that you're telling yourself? And I realized that I was telling myself some really awesome words because I knew that it had limited unlimited potential. I knew that if I believed in myself, I could achieve anything because I had done it when I got my computer programming degree. So I had already been telling myself some of the best words to do whatever I wanted to do. Like positive things happen to positive people, you know? So that was how I realized, like I can make a life on my terms, how am I gonna do it? And I came to the conclusion that it was going to be real estate. But the other thing that I also knew is that I had a very giving heart. Like I wanted to take care of people.

  Tim Murphy (20:02):

  I'm a protector. And I, I genuinely know that in my heart. And you can't protect anybody though when you're in the survival phase, because when you're in the survival phase, which is the first phase of being a real estate investor. So the only person you could take care of is yourself. Because just like I was broke in my parents' basement, I was worried about how the heck am I going to get out of here? And then how am I going to pay for a place? And then how am I going to feed myself and clothe myself and all these simple things that I need to take care of? Because I knew my old man was going to kick me out. I knew who he was because I knew he knew that I'd survive, but I wasn't sure if I would survive. You know? And those are the doubts that are going through you through your head. And that's exactly what's happening when you're in the survival phase. And you're on step one of becoming a real estate investor. You don't know if you're going to live or die and it's that simple. And your brain is telling you that, right? I mean, it's simple,

  Robert Grand (20:54):

  Right? Yeah. Yeah. I mean, your basic needs have to be met. That's the thing. If you can't get out of that survival phase and you can't get to the next level, then it becomes really hard because you get in this repetitive cycle. Like, I need food, I need water. I need shelter. You know, I need, then I need to focus on that. So it's hard. And I get that, you know, when somebody is working a another full-time job, right, when you're working nine to five, like you're working in a cubicle. Sometimes your only extra time is just in that evening or it's in that morning before you go into work. And that's your sacred time to make that you time happen, where you can actually start building your future outside that. And that's what I realized, you know, for me like working at the fire department, that's like my time in between that I had off instead of hanging out boating and partying with my friends, I decided I wanted to build a future in real estate. And that's kind of the path that I took. And,

  Tim Murphy (21:46):

  And this is what I, so I want to dive into like the question that people are probably asking episode four is like, who is a value driven investor? And so I wrote this down a value driven investor is someone who leads by giving this person, sees an opportunity to invest time, energy, money, into an idea, or an asset. They make their investment in hopes of receiving a positive impact on the world and themselves. I value to have an investor invest their time, energy, and or money into an idea. When you make this deposit, you expect a positive impact on the world and or a positive return on your investment. Becoming a value-driven investor is your mind shift towards a lifetime of learning and giving committed to life on your terms and the pursuit of becoming your best self to achieve your goal. You must start somewhere and that somewhere is the survival phase.

  Tim Murphy (22:38):

  And so that is who a value driven investor is on day one on like step one, because I think it's important that people understand, you know, this is a path you are walking on a path, Bob and I have walked a path. Now, Bob and I have walked our own path, but there's a lot of similarities and maybe more similarities than differences along the path. And that's why it's so exciting to have Bob and I on the podcast. And just to be able to talk together about this because we each bring different perspective, but we all understand, or we both understand the path. And so if you're sitting here on day one and you're like, how am I going to do this? The step number one is education. Step number two is find your guide. Step number three is get off the fence and take action.

  Tim Murphy (23:27):

  Those are the first three things you need to be focused on. Like Bob said today, you know what? I got hit with this flood zone thing. He goes, and when I get hit with a problem, I go deep and I research it. And I figured out because I'm the find all the different angles that I can use to solve the problem. That's exactly what we're saying today. Get educated, find your guide, find somebody else that solved the problem because odds are there's someone else out there that solved the problem like Bob and I get off the fence and take action sitting there, analysis paralysis and not taking action gets you nowhere if you don't move. And this is, this is something I heard from a Navy seal Jocko, Willock. If you haven't heard his podcast, this guy is superintendent Navy seal, Navy seal, captain fricking intense. And he said, if you don't move, you die. And that's coming from a guy in war. Like, I feel that it's the same thing here. If you don't move, you die. So Grando on the education front. What are some of the things that you, some suggestions you have around education? What can people like? Are there books that people can read? Audibles podcasts?

  Robert Grand (24:33):

  Yeah. I mean, there's so many, you know, I honestly like probably the first deep dive I would do is just start running through just type bigger pockets and Amazon, they have so many books and so many authors that they've published. That's probably the quickest resource to start finding stuff. You can find, you know, they're flipping book there a, you could find their apartment investing book, but I would say, you know, if I were to be starting out brand new and I were thinking, what's my education, I'd probably go to like a rich dad, poor dad book, you know, get the Robert Kiyosaki and figure out my why, make sure I understand that. I understand where I can go with that and then progress from there. Because if you don't know what your, why is, and you don't educate yourself on how to figure that out first, that's going to be your first hurdle cause you'll be working for nothing. Then after that I would start focusing on, you know, wholesaling book rehabbing book, or even just a general real estate book, just to understand the process of that. And there's so many of them out there, it's just, it's an endless, endless supply of books and people have written books and a lot of creativity and all that stuff. So yeah,

  Tim Murphy (25:35):

  A hundred percent agree with you. The first book I would recommend at this stage, the very, very, very beginning, like you literally rolled out of bed and today you're like, I'm going to be an investor. And here's, what's the first thing I'm going to do. Yeah. Simon Sinek has a great book called start with why. And I would read that book. I really would read that book because it will get your mind kicking and you'll be thinking like, oh my gosh, if I can solve some of the questions that he poses in that book, I'm going to be on the right track. The other book that changed my life, literally retire young retire. Rich. I would read that book by Robert Kiyosaki and the reason I would read that book, not only did it impact my life, but it will also help you with the mind shift that we're talking about today.

  Tim Murphy (26:14):

  Because the biggest challenge you have on step one is mind shift. You have to change your mindset. And when you change your mindset, you do it by changing your words. When you change your words, you start telling yourself a different story. And when you change your story, you change your life. And it's really simple, but yet it's very, very hard. So those are a couple of different books that I would pay attention to. When it comes to podcasts, I think it comes down to, like Bob said, what phase you want to start it? The easiest phase would be wholesaling because all your biggest challenge will be okay. I have to find an asset. And once I find that asset, I then have to find a buyer and all I have to do really is connect dots. And all I really have to do, I don't even have to have a real estate license to do that.

  Tim Murphy (27:00):

  Now you might think about, Hmm, if I had my real estate license, you know what, I'm basically, you're doing a real estate activity essentially. So maybe you could even make some money being a real estate agent like I did like Bob did, because now you can make a little extra cash because in the survival phase, it's all about making money, making money, like putting some food on the plate, being able to get clothes, being able to pay for your shelter. Well, what are all the different creative ways you can do that? Getting a real estate license is one of the ways I did it. One of the ways Bob's did it another way to do it is wholesaling. Those are probably the two quickest, easiest ways. And you know, let me tell you something. When you figure those two ways out your return on investment, how much you get paid an hour to do either of those activities.

  Tim Murphy (27:42):

  If you get good at finding an asset, finding an opportunity and connecting it to a buyer, you get paid really, really well, but I'm not going to tell you that it's easy. So those are some things you should look into, whatever allows you to figure out how do I connect that dot with how do I find an asset? How do I find a buyer? How do I connect it to, how do I get paid? That is the quickest way for you to get through the survival phase or to stay alive. Now, the next thing, Grando your guide. Find your guide. Like for me, it's Robert Kiyosaki. I have read a lot of his stuff. Now. I'm not telling you this. I like Robert Kiyosaki stuff that he writes. He has a podcast. I don't know about his podcasts. Like Robert is very polarizing. He has, he's very, he, he's an older guy. He is an army guy. And he is very set in his ways. Do I believe everything or agree with everything he says, no, but you know what? I think he'd respect that. But what I will tell you is that the, the people, the advisors and the people that he's put together and what he's put in the books and your ability to think for yourself, read those books, things for yourself and create a path. I don't know. I haven't found anybody. That's done it better. Yeah. I would

  Robert Grand (28:53):

  Say you're probably about that. He's he probably nailed it. I agree with you. Like I, some of the stuff that he puts out, but just on a general basis, I'm always kind of like, eh, I don't really know. And I find that I cycle through a lot of different people. Like I'll be listening to a podcast and I'll think it's the greatest thing. Like, I love the one thing podcast for like three or four months, and then I'm kind of like over it. And then I'll maybe move to like a specific real estate podcast and I'll be on that for a few months. And there's so many of them out there. They all have their benefit, but you'll notice that your guides don't have to be actual people. They can be books, they can be podcasts. They can be those things. Eventually, you know, your, your mentors, you're going to potentially want like real people, because I was, I was listening to a podcast the other day and it said, you know, if you can go back and talk to your 20 year old self, what would you tell them?

  Robert Grand (29:39):

  You know, like I would hopefully just write down every mistake that I had done from 20 to 40, you know, and gave them a compressed timeframe to be able to do it all by the age of 25. Right? Because basically when you work with like a you or me, they, that the person working with us doesn't have to make 20 years of mistakes, you know we can compress it down and you can basically have 20 years of knowledge and mistakes and get it done inside of five years. And that's the great thing about mentors is they have the ability to allow you to fast forward. And that's the most important thing if I, I I've never had a real estate mentor, you know, in those timeframes, it was always figured out by myself. And I never thought that I should do that. And looking back, that was my biggest mistake I could have probably, you know, been retired by now, you know, or [inaudible], you know, who knows, you know, the possibilities and that's,

  Tim Murphy (30:31):

  We're right there with you, man. And, and I think though, that's also your, our personalities, right? Like, you know, live life on your terms, become your best self stubborn, right? I mean, and so like, there's a fine line, like, just because you look at yourself, you and I, as alpha leaders, like we look at yourselves as alphas, like we're going to run through walls. That's just who we are. But that's also doesn't mean that what we do and those and those emotions are the best ways for us to make decisions and to get there faster or smarter or quicker. And that's the whole point that I was trying to make is, you know what, just because you look at yourself as a leader in the mirror and other people's look at you as a leader does not mean that you can't follow. And that is, you nailed it on the head. Bob, one of my biggest weaknesses is I should have been following earlier and faster and more often. And I am now taking that experience as I move into commercial. And I'm saying, I don't need to be the leader. I will be the follower. I will participate. If someone says jump, I will jump because that is a huge lesson that I learned. And it took me years and years, and years and years to learn it because I was stubborn. So you nailed it, man. That, that, that's a great piece of advice.

  Tim Murphy (31:45):

  Nice. okay. So let's get to the next one, get off the fence and take actions, right? I mean, at the end of the day, you have to create habits. You have to remove your excuses and you have to jump out of the plane and you also have to know your numbers. You have to know where you're going to find your resources. What, that's the value of investor community. You see, that's the whole point. Like Bob said, you know what? People are going to come to this podcast. They're going to like it. They're not going to like it. There are some people are gonna stick around. Some people aren't going to stick around, but that's not really who we're talking to. We're talking to someone who's serious about jumping out of the plane, having someone strapped their back and actually executing someone that is a leader. They want to live life on their terms. They want to become their best self, but they know that if I'm willing to follow, now I will be leading tomorrow. But granddaughter, how do people take action though? When feet are like in cement, because they're so

  Robert Grand (32:41):

  To do that first step, well, it starts out with basic education. You know, just like you said, knowing your numbers, knowing how to look for property, knowing how to do it, and then having somebody to bounce that off of. Right. So then having that next person, which is a mentor or somebody like that, that can say, yeah, your numbers look good. I say green light, you know, and my brother and I have those conversations all the time. We bounce things back and forth. These numbers look good. Does that look good? Yeah, it looks good. Boom. Once it all aligns, it's just press go button. And it takes a lot of that practice and repetition. And then having that gut check where you're like, it's all good. Everything's lining up. There's no reason not to take action, but you'll see people all the time. Regardless the line it up, it'll be perfect.

  Robert Grand (33:23):

  They could do it. They could just sign that contract and then they back out. Right. So it's the fear aspect. And so how do you get over that fear again, bouncing it back off of another person and having somebody to push you forward that, you know, jumping, like you've always said, you know, being strapped, you don't go skydiving the first time and say, okay, is this the parachute? This is good to go. I did my system jumping out of the plane might do that, but we would be dead on the way down trying to figure, but a smart person would be strapped to the skydive instructor and let, let's jump out with him first. And then you do that a few times and you've done. Right. And then after that, maybe then you get to the point where you're parachuting up by yourself. So, you know, I wouldn't say I'd actually do that. I probably wouldn't. But as many as circumstances where you just run into that wall, right. You know, it's like, I'm a firefighter I run into fire. Seems crazy to most people, it seems calculated to me. You know why? Because I've had mentors, I've had training, I've had education, so it doesn't scare me anymore. So that's the most important thing. No, the thing is,

  Tim Murphy (34:26):

  Is that when you did the apartment deal, which we started off at, you did a ton of you. You were like finding all the reasons not to jump, but then you were like, okay, wait, I got to talk to Shane. I gotta talk to Merck. I got to talking slow. I got to talk to my guys that I know have done this longer than I have. And, and I got to talk to my brother and we got to run the numbers and, and you did what you're doing. And you knew there was risk. You knew there was a lot of risk, but yet look the action. And then now you come in today and you say, gosh, I hit this big problem, but you're not like, oh, I'm going to die. You're not pulling the rip cord going, oh my God, I'm gonna die. You're like, no, I'm going to do the research. I'm going to figure it out. You go back to your experience. You're taking action. And what isn't that the same thing?

  Robert Grand (35:11):

  Yeah. Yeah. I mean, essentially you're walking through that process and doing exactly that. And then once you get started in it, you have no option to turn back, right? Like it's not, you just get to walk the path. My brother and I get to walk the path of going through this apartment thing and we get that education and experience and we, and, and we just have to do it once we've got through one of them, we can do it again and we can do it faster. This one's taking us forever. It's going to take us a really long time. But you know, in the end, the, the experience will be very valuable. I'll be able to mentor somebody else on how to do it. That'll create partnerships for me on other projects with people that want to do it, because now I have all this expertise, you know, partnering with you, partnering with all the other guys that we know.

  Robert Grand (35:51):

  And then I think mostly, you know, it, it builds that knowledge base to where your fear just kinda gets pushed back down. My brother and I were, you know, making excuses as to why we shouldn't do it. And then finally we're like, the numbers are too good. This is too good of a deal. And he's around. I was like, those are really the numbers. We gotta do it. You know, it's just kinda like one of those things. And, you know, having that ability to bounce it off of somebody else like you and you know, all the other guys and, you know, slope and everything, to be able to do that. And it's, it's so valuable. I don't think I would have done it without having that kind of a network. You know, it's just too early to say, no, I'm not going to take the risk. It's too scary. It's too scary. It's easy in a hot market to be a real estate investor to say, I'm going to do it. And I'm a real estate investor, the true test of a real estate investor, which, you know, this probably more than I do is that downmarket, you know, like when there, when there's blood in the streets, you know, and like things aren't going good and you, you know, have ran through that cycle and ran it all the way back up. So you understand that, you know? Yeah. But

  Tim Murphy (36:49):

  Like my argument at the beginning of the podcast here, I would tell you that in this market might even be now that I'm living through it, literally. Yeah. I would tell you that being at the very top is almost more scary than being at the bottom because if the bottom falls out of the sucker, which I don't think it will, at least not in the near term, boom, you, you, you have to where you have to live through that next cycle to get it back to where it was. You know? So I would rather be at the bottom knowing that the shift is going to be on because how can we go any farther down than to be at the top and know the shift is going to go down because how can we keep going up? And so I would tell you right now is the scariest time to be a real estate investor.

  Tim Murphy (37:28):

  Now, most people the layman's are saying, oh, no, no. I mean like you can't screw it up. And I'm like, yeah, well, let's see, let's see how this all plays out. But like you said, Bob, at the end of the day, the biggest value that we're going to bring at the value of investor community is direct access. And so that's one of the things that once we get this thing launched and off the ground, that behind the scenes, if you join the value of investor community, you're going to get direct access to myself. And to Bob, you're going to be able to run your deal past us and say, what do you think is this the right move? Just like Bob did when he was about to buy that 18 unit investment property. So that is the whole point of this podcast. That's the whole point of this community is that we know as investors to take that first step to keep moving forward, to walk the pass of the path of a value driven investor. You have to have others around you that are willing to mentor you that are willing to say, you know what, you're going to live. You're going to make it. And I think that's the whole point of today's podcast. Granule. Do you have anything else to add? Otherwise? I think we are good to go.

  Robert Grand (38:33):

  Yeah, no, I think the numbers lie and I think that's probably one of the most important things, you know, to always realize in real estate investing. And then having that mentor and having that guide that can kind of help you along with your education. Other than that, man, it's like, you just got to start putting those pieces together and it's, it takes a long time to really get dialed on it and that's okay. Okay.

  Tim Murphy (38:52):

  Yeah. So you guys, the value of an investor podcast, this will be episode number four on obviously episode number one, we just kind of introduced, what are we doing? Why the value doing investor episode number two was the secret behind how the value to investors special episode three was the value of an investor podcast and why it's committed to delivering this amazing content for you. Now, from this point forward episode, number four really kicks it off. This is where the rubber is going to hit the road. This is where we're going to really talk about executing. What is the strategy? What are we trying to do? What is the path? And we would love it. If you guys would join our Facebook page and ask questions. If you listen to a podcast episode and you have questions, hit us up in our, on our Facebook, okay. And say, Hey, that what you

  Tim Murphy (39:38):

  Talked about here was great, but I don't know if I agree with it or, Hey, this is what I'm doing. What would, what would work here? Or what do you guys think? Because the more that you give us the questions, the more value we can bring to you. So here's another episode on the value of investor podcast. We're out. Thanks for listening to the value driven investor podcast, where we lead by giving for more information about our community and what's you visit value driven investor.com. The value-driven investor podcast was produced by digital legend media in Minneapolis, build the or legend digital legend media.com.

Miss an episode? Catch up!