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The Difference Between Memory Care and Assisted Living
By Gene Guarino
Let’s talk about Memory Care versus Assisted Living. Are they the same thing, or are they different? There has long been some confusion regarding the difference between the two of them. So let’s simplify the differences, but first you should know that you have options.
You don’t have to take care of them yourselves.
The ideal situation would be for the kids to take care of mom or dad, or to hire a caregiver to go in to the home daily to provide help with the activities of daily living. But, If that is not an option, don’t feel guilty. Not all of us are comfortable with being the caregiver to our parents, or gifted with the ability to do so. That’s perfectly ok, you have other home care options available.
How do you determine which type of care they need?
Let’s say that mom or dad has been living on their own and taking care of themselves for quite some time. You have noticed that they are starting to need some help with daily activities, bathing, preparing meals, taking medications, grocery shopping, or maybe they are lonely and need some companionship, etc. Assisted living is the way to go here. They will receive the help that they need to get through their daily activities. Plus there is the added benefit of companionship, and activities that are available for them to participate in. The Facility may house 10 to 15 residents and have trained caregivers.
Now let’s say that mom or dad is displaying some memory lapses. They could be the normal lapses that most of us have, such as forgetting where we put our car keys that are in our hands, or sunglasses that are on our head etc. This happens to a lot of people. Or it could be more severe, like forgetting where they are, and why they are there. They may need the more specialized environment of a Memory Care home. This type of home will typically have fewer residents, generally up to 8 residents, and more required training of the staff according to state regulations, and will be what is called, a lockdown facility. The doors will have either magnetic, or combination code locks to prevent the residents from walking out the door, for their own safety. These locks will be tied to the sprinkler system, fire suppression, smoke detectors, and or the emergency equipment. When any of these emergency systems are activated, the locks will release to allow for staff and residents to get to safety.
Be informed and prepared.
So we talked about several things in regards to Assisted Living versus Memory Care. The three main points are as follows:
- The housing concept is slightly different between the two with varying security requirements.
- The caregivers have different levels of training according to the level of care needed and state regulations.
- The age of the resident moving in tends to be younger, and stay longer in a Memory Care home versus an Assisted Living home.
Be sure to subscribe to our iTunes podcast to listen on the go! [CLICK HERE]
Gene Guarino
Founder/CEO
Residential Assisted Living Academy™
Gene is the President, CEO & Founder of RALAcademy.com. Gene has over 30 years experience in real estate investing and business. Today, Gene is focused on just one thing… investing in the mega-trend of senior assisted housing. He has trained thousands of investors/entrepreneurs throughout the United States how to invest in and operate residential assisted living homes. For over 25 years he has been educating people on the strategies of successful investing, business and self-employment. He now specializes in helping others take advantage of this mega-trend opportunity.
Wildcat Lending Helps Investors Roar Toward Their Goals With Fast & Easy Funding
The house flipping market seems to be moving faster than ever. Opportunities are plentiful. Though success in getting started or dominating your market is still all about having the funding on tap. Don’t let those deals get away like a herd of gazelles. Let Wildcat Lending put a spring in your step and fund more deals, faster than the competition.
House Flipping Rates Leap in 2019
According to the latest statistics from ATTOM Data, the US home flipping rate has reached a new high in 2019.
The total dollar volume of homes flipped using financing hit a new 12 year high in Q1 2019, at $6.4B. Over 49k homes were flipped in the first three months of the year, for an average gross profit of $60,000 each. Flipping has been growing by double digits in many markets, with several Texas cities growing 41% to 55% year over year. House flippers have been making over 100% returns in at least five markets.
Roar into Action & Speed Up Your Game with the Lender That Makes Hard Money Easy
In order to stand out on the landscape and win more contracts, to get started or to scale to crush your new goals, it’s still all about the capital. The deals are there, the buyers are there, new technology is making the operational side easier than ever. It’s just about having the money to buy and rehab, and to fund them faster and more efficiently than everyone else.
This is where Wildcat Lending comes in.
Wildcat Lending is on a mission to make hard money and rehab loans extremely efficient, simple and effective for investors. They offer lighting fast funding, aggressive terms, and could help fund your next deal.
They can finance your flips, wholesale deals and even rentals.
What’s New with Wildcat
We tracked down Wildcat’s Chief Lending Officer Kevin Shipman to find out the latest on this lender.
Kevin says the lender’s recent expansion from Texas to Tennessee has been a huge hit, with new deals being funded there every week.
Kevin and his team’s outlook for the market remains very bullish, especially for properties at $300k and below. They see plenty of buyers for deals, and great performance on the loans they’ve been making.
What you might not know about Wildcat is that in addition to financing up to 90% of your house flipping projects, they do rental property loans, and they’ll finance 1-4 unit properties, including condos.
While many of their investors are experienced, Kevin says, “we love working with newbies.” It’s always exciting to help someone new get into the game and off the ground. So, if you’ve had trouble meeting the experience requirements at other lenders, consider trying these guys out.
Improving the lending experience and helping investors is something Kevin has been passionate about since school. He always liked numbers and was good at math. After getting his finance degree he started working at Wells Fargo and quickly moved up to management before striking out at the Senior Vice President of a community bank. Then being driven to create even more efficiency and better service for investors, he joined Wildcat.
When we say Wildcat is fast, we mean really fast, and it is one of the advantages that is helping them scoop up more market share. Kevin says they can close deals in as little as 24 to 48 hours. In fact, when another lender recently turned down a house flipper’s loan in the middle of a deal, Kevin’s team stepped in and got the file from start to closing in a ridiculously fast four and a half hours.
You’ll find lots of convenient features at WildcatLending.com, including:
● Online applications
● The ability to text a loan officer
● Rehab worksheets
● Draw request forms
● Online payoff requests
They’ve also teamed up with investor friendly title company Strike Title. A title insurance provider who gets investor needs, assignments, double closes, and a sense of urgency.
The Investment Property Loans You Want
Fix & Flip Loans
● Up to 90% Loan to Cost(LTC) or 70% of ARV the lessor of the two
● 6 month term with 90 day extension option
● Lender ordered ARV appraisal
● $50k+ loan amounts
● 1-4 unit homes
Rental Property Loans
● Up to 80% LTV for purchases
● Up to 75% Cash out Loans
● 24-36 month terms
● Rates as low as 8.99%
These loans are ideal for those taking on new income properties which may need some improvement and releasing before investors can season them for more attractive loan term financing. As well as for those who just don’t want to deal with the hassles of out of touch banks.
The Wildcat Lending Difference
● Wildcat currently charges just 2-3 points for hard money loans
● Funding for brand new and experienced property investors
● Same day loan approvals
● No income verification
● Modest credit scores accepted
● Everyone you speak to is a decision maker and able to make a common sense loan decisions
Summary
There is a relentless amount of real estate investment opportunities for income property investors, wholesalers and house flippers. The profit potential is incredible. If funding has been holding you back from your goals, get a hold of Wildcat and see what they can do for you.
Head over to WildcatLending.com where you can submit deals online and use their rehab budget worksheet to nail those numbers, or just pick up the phone and run your deal by Kevin now at 817.832.3451.
Kevin M. Shipman | Wildcat Lending, LLC. Chief Lending Officer
Empowering Your Investors to Retire Sooner
By Dan Kryzanowski
Tips on Sponsorship and Syndicates
My Journey to Financial Independence
Who do I (or you) have more in common with, Joe Biden or Mitt Romney? Putting politics way aside on my response, my answer is both. Speaking with my business hat on, I morphed from Joe to Mitt.
The Early Days
While like Joe, I did grow up on the “mean streets” of Scranton, Pennsylvania. Actually, the streets were not so mean and life was wonderful as a child in the 20th century. I was also very fortunate that my parents had secure jobs – high school principal and social worker – with pensions in perpetuity!
Grit was (and is still) a valued trait in northeast Pennsylvania (aka NEPA), with NEPA known as coal mining community with strong cultural ties and traditions. There was a solid deference to top-down organizations and assumption of middle-class comfort.
In terms of real estate and investments, the primary residence was the only “alternative” asset for the supermajority. This held true for the single-earner family or high-flying businessman that made six-figures in the early 80s. That said, the immigrant sense of adventure shined with the true immigrants (i.e. first-generation Americans) born in the early 1900s. My great aunts and uncles strongly valued family gatherings, so purchased land and built houses outside of town.
My entrepreneurial spirit flickered early, though primarily in the “non-profit” sense, to provide opportunities for my peers. I co-founded and stood up programming for a youth leadership group under Hugh O’Brian Youth Leadership (HOBY), and served as matchmaker years before LinkedIn and Facebook. Overall, life was wonderful as a child and teenager in NEPA in the 20th century.
Early Career
Sometimes it pays to be lucky, being in the right place at the right time with the right people. I spent college and my twenties studying and living in three countries (traveling to another 20), ten US states, and locations such as Martha’s Vineyard in the summer of 1998 to Austin, TX prior to the current (infinite?) population boom. I also picked up degrees at Wharton and Thunderbird and benefited immensely from a decade at Merrill Lynch and GE Capital.
Life was good and I quietly built up a sizable 401(k) and healthy Roth IRA. Stocks trended upward, public REITs paid double-digit dividends and I could receive a whopping 6% on a risk-free Certificate of Deposit (CD)! I felt very “diversified” and sophisticated within the comforts on the Fidelity online portal.
Turning Point
While 9/11 was an obvious shock (I worked at 4 World Financial Center) and wake up call to potential horrors, day-to-day living (and investing) in the mid-2000s was quite comfortable. That, of course, all changed in September 2008. The curtain fell on the Wizard of Oz, and what was behind the curtain was not pretty (i.e. “trusted” institutions).
Backing up a little bit, it should be noted that I rarely go against my gut feeling, and when I do it tends to put my entrepreneurial and investing endeavors on hold. Instead of remaining in Austin in mid-2008 to be at the forefront of the first true “organic” tequila, we ended up back in the northeast, paying $2,000 monthly for a condo with a view of a wall in Stamford, CT (when I literally could have bought a house in east Austin for $40K). Fast forward three winters, the reintroduction of state income tax, and dozens of pints for friends laid offer during the financial crisis – it was time to return “home” to Texas.
Keeping It Weird
Austin, and Texas in general, has a very educated investor base, with folks forming all types of syndicates to invest in everything from conservative multifamily preferred loans to restaurants that cater to dogs and comedy tours (“Ha”, said my CPA, when we wrote off this investment). I immediately cannonballed into both ends of the pool, opening a Self-Directed IRA (SDIRA) to invest in high-yield/low-risk real estate and effectively crowdfund some of my dividends and piggybank savings accounts into hotel/bar/restaurants across Austin, some of which we also own the dirt. Overnight, I morphed from Joe to Mitt.
Regardless of deal type, what struck me most was the commonality and comfort of each deal lead to sponsor a syndicate. In the early 2010s this was still a grassroots effort, now aided by various Meetups and crowdfunding platforms. The wild card, though, which has yet to scratch the surface is the “green tsunami” of $10T (yes, trillion) that individuals will shift from stagnant, nameless mutual funds to sponsors/syndicates, with a strong percentage of these funds going towards real estate.
Storage, Baby!
Raise your hand if you or somebody you know rents a storage unit. Raise your other hand if you would rather spend Memorial Day Weekend on your boat vs. changing storage providers if you monthly rate went up by a whopping $7. Now with both hands in the air (i.e. the universal “it’s good” on a PAT), you have a taste into the beauty of self-storage and natural attraction to invest in a storage facility with your friends and family.
Pinnacle Storage Properties, founded by Uncle Bob’s veteran, John Manes, offers the simple blueprint on how to sponsor a deal. First, assuming you are liked – or of greater importance, respected – then you should have a natural following of 100+ interested individuals who will engage based on the high level of competency and character you exhibited throughout the years.
Second, keep it simple. Unless a single person is willing to take all the equity off the table, then there should not be multiple share classes on your initial deals (or even on future deals or initial fund). Likewise, this eliminates the perception (and possible reality) of preferential treatment of your Grandma’s $50k on Day 1 vs. an ex co-worker funding the final $250k from her SDIRA.
Finally, set parameters on commitments. Make it crystal clear that you need $X by Y date. That said, it is always best practice to communicate a “funds due date” a good 14-30 days before your true ‘D Day’, as is is very common for your next door neighbor’s check to get lost in the mail. Assume also that 10% of commitments will fall through, so either be oversubscribed or be prepared to front or possibly invest that final 10% of equity out of your own pocket.
Six Figures in Six Minutes
Did you know you can get 6 figures in 6 minutes? Yes, it’s true! As referenced above, assuming you have a reasonable number of potential investors (e.g. 100 or more), then a simple email or mention in your deal packet should bring you a few checks from your investors’ “forgotten trillions”.
In every deal I sponsor, and even when I do not have a live deal, I always educate any potential investor that s/he may use their retirement dollars to invest in my upcoming deal. Tommy Prate of Magnify Capital is a longtime evangelist of enhanced retirement accounts (Solo 401(k), SDIRA), empowering both his investors and ‘Magnifiers’ (those sourcing deals with boots on the ground diligence) with the knowledge that they may invest in his current/next deal with their retirement accounts. Manes/Pinnacle also regularly receives 15%-25% of equity raise from Self-Directed accounts.
The added bonus, and ease, of “selling” the concept of retirement accounts is that these dollars are likely locked up (i.e. cannot withdraw without early distribution penalty) for the next 5-25 years, so the investor has no urgency of receiving (~demanding) his principal back. Secondly, with a checkbook controlled SDIRA, the investor can easily reinvest dividends or have a bit of fun investing smaller checks in other real estate and private deals, while maintaining all the benefits of a traditional retirement account. Play this to your advantage, and you will literally get 6 figures for 6 minutes of your time.
Playing the Mitt card to Financial Independence
When on the campaign trail in 2012, Mitt Romney was asked how his ROTH account could be in the Millions (actually $102,000,000!) when the maximum ROTH contribution was only $5,000? While Mitt took advantage of other types of enhanced retirement accounts (with 10x contribution limits), the takeaway here is that he invested via a post-tax account and will not have to pay taxes on this balance during his golden years.
Stated differently, would you rather pay taxes today on a small seed or the full evergreen tree in the future? I opted for the former, now very confident that my seed will replicate many times over until I elect to take my first distributions in my 60s.
Dan Kryzanowski
Executive Vice President
Rocket Dollar
[email protected]
512.779.0843
Dan serves as EVP at Rocket Dollar and Capital Partner for Pinnacle Storage Properties. Dan has raised “six figures in six minutes” numerous times across the self-storage, multi-family, and residential worlds. His profession mission is to guide individuals to take back control of their retirement dollars and empower sponsors raise more money faster. Visit with Dan at Family Office Connect on May 21st in New York City.
TOP 5 АLTЕRNАTІVЕ FІNАNСІNG AVAILABLE TO ЕNTRЕРRЕNЕURЅ
Dr. Teresa R. Martin, Esq.
Indeed, financing is a сruсіаl piece оf thе puzzle fоr almost еvеrу buѕіnеѕѕ. Unless you hаvе ассеѕѕ tо enough саріtаl tо bооtѕtrар your buѕіnеѕѕ оr raise it frоm family and friends, chances are you’ll need a loan оr investments.
Whеn a conventional bank lоаn іѕn’t rіght for уоu, оr іf уоu’rе lооkіng fоr аn аddіtіоnаl іnjесtіоn of саріtаl tо grоw уоur соmраnу, thеrе аrе рlеntу of оthеr орtіоnѕ. Hеrе аrе five аltеrnаtіvе wауѕ tо fіnаnсе уоur startup оr grоw уоur ѕmаll business.
1. Love Money
Thіѕ is mоnеу lоаnеd bу a ѕроuѕе, раrеntѕ, family or frіеndѕ. A bаnkеr соnѕіdеrѕ this as “раtіеnt саріtаl”, whісh іѕ money thаt wіll bе rераіd lаtеr as уоur buѕіnеѕѕ profits іnсrеаѕе.
When borrowing lоvе mоnеу, уоu ѕhоuld bе aware thаt:
- Family and frіеndѕ rаrеlу hаvе muсh саріtаl.
- They mау want to hаvе equity in your business; bе sure уоu don’t gіvе thіѕ аwау.
- A buѕіnеѕѕ relationship with fаmіlу оr frіеndѕ should never bе taken lіghtly.
2. Rеtіrеmеnt Funds
Aѕ wіth bоrrоwіng money frоm friends оr fаmіlу to buy a buѕіnеѕѕ, some mіght соnѕіdеr uѕіng mоnеу frоm a rеtіrеmеnt nest-egg rіѕkу. That ѕаіd, іt саn оftеn be аn effective wау tо invest in your еntrерrеnеurіаl endeavors аnd hаѕ hаd ѕuссеѕѕful оutсоmеѕ fоr mоrе аnd more of today’s buѕіnеѕѕ buуеrѕ. As lаіd out bу the government’s ERISA law , уоu саn іnvеѕt уоur existing IRA оr 401(k) funds tо the рurсhаѕе of a buѕіnеѕѕ wіthоut tаkіng аn еаrlу dіѕtrіbutіоn and іnсurrіng реnаltіеѕ.
It’ѕ even роѕѕіblе tо соmbіnе mоnеу frоm your rеtіrеmеnt fund with loans аnd other fundіng mеthоdѕ fоr grеаtеr flеxіbіlіtу. Mаnу еntrерrеnеurѕ choose tо іnvеѕt in a buѕіnеѕѕ thеу control because thеу believe thе grоwth opportunity іѕ greater and wаnt tо dіvеrѕіfу a роrtіоn оf their rеtіrеmеnt holdings оutѕіdе оf thе ѕtосk market.
3. Angel Іnvеѕtоrѕ
Angel іnvеѕtоrѕ іnvеѕt in еаrlу-ѕtаgе оr ѕtаrtuр соmраnіеѕ іn еxсhаngе fоr a 20 tо 25 percent return оn thеіr іnvеѕtmеnt. Thеу hаvе helped to ѕtаrt uр many рrоmіnеnt companies, including Gооglе аnd Cоѕtсо.
Angеlѕ are generally wealthy іndіvіduаlѕ or retired соmраnу еxесutіvеѕ whо invest directly in ѕmаll firms оwnеd bу оthеrѕ. Thеу аrе often lеаdеrѕ іn their оwn field who not оnlу contribute thеіr еxреrіеnсе аnd nеtwоrk of соntасtѕ but аlѕо thеіr tесhnісаl аnd/оr mаnаgеmеnt knоwlеdgе. Angеlѕ tend to fіnаnсе thе еаrlу ѕtаgеѕ оf thе business with іnvеѕtmеntѕ іn thе order оf $25,000 tо $100,000. Institutional venture саріtаlіѕtѕ рrеfеr lаrgеr іnvеѕtmеntѕ, in thе order оf $1,000,000.
In turn for risking thеіr mоnеу, thеу reserve thе rіght tо ѕuреrvіѕе thе company’s mаnаgеmеnt practices. In concrete tеrmѕ, thіѕ оftеn іnvоlvеѕ a ѕеаt on the bоаrd оf dіrесtоrѕ аnd an assurance оf trаnѕраrеnсу.
Angеlѕ tеnd to keep a lоw profile. Tо mееt thеm, уоu hаvе tо соntасt ѕресіаlіzеd аѕѕосіаtіоnѕ or ѕеаrсh websites оn аngеlѕ.
4. Sеllеr Financing
Inсrеаѕіnglу tоdау mоrе buѕіnеѕѕ-fоr-ѕаlе trаnѕасtіоnѕ are resting оn a ѕеllеr’ѕ wіllіngnеѕѕ tо finance аt least раrt оf a sale. In a dеаl that includes ѕеllеr fіnаnсіng, the seller takes раrt оf thе purchase рrісе іn саѕh аnd the rеmаіndеr in thе fоrm оf a рrоmіѕѕоrу nоtе that the buуеr wіll рау bасk with іntеrеѕt оvеr a period of three-to-five years. Thіѕ hаѕ bесоmе еѕѕеntіаl; buуеrѕ аrе having dіffісultу ассеѕѕіng funds through trаdіtіоnаl mеthоdѕ, thеrеfоrе there’s a natural grаvіtаtіоn tоwаrd ѕеllеr-fіnаnсеd buѕіnеѕѕеѕ tо hеlр offset ѕоmе оf the cost uр frоnt.
Conversely, ѕеllеrѕ whо соntіnuе tо ѕау nо tо seller financing are fіndіng it difficult tо сlоѕе a deal, аnd as more оf thеm have rеаlіzеd thіѕ, there has bееn an іnсrеаѕе in seller-financed buѕіnеѕѕеѕ on thе mаrkеt. If you’re іn thе mаrkеt fоr a small buѕіnеѕѕ іt’ѕ іmроrtаnt to bе aware of alternate fundіng орtіоnѕ, but know thаt in some саѕеѕ it’s still possible tо bоrrоw frоm a bаnk. Government ѕtіmuluѕ аnd bаnk роlісу have bееn trуіng tо рrоmоtе ongoing ѕmаll buѕіnеѕѕ lending, аlthоugh mаnу bаnkѕ аrе still mоrе соnѕеrvаtіvе thаn thеу uѕеd tо bе аbоut when аnd to whоm thеу’ll lоаn mоnеу.
5. Crоwdfundіng
Crоwdfundіng оn ѕіtеѕ such аѕ Kісkѕtаrtеr and Indіеgоgо саn gіvе a boost tо fіnаnсіng a ѕmаll buѕіnеѕѕ. Thеѕе ѕіtеѕ allow buѕіnеѕѕеѕ to рооl ѕmаll іnvеѕtmеntѕ frоm a numbеr оf іnvеѕtоrѕ іnѕtеаd оf hаvіng to lооk fоr a single investment.
Mаkе ѕurе to rеаd thе fіnе рrіnt оf different crowdfunding sites bеfоrе mаkіng уоur choice, аѕ ѕоmе ѕіtеѕ hаvе рауmеnt-рrосеѕѕіng fееѕ, оr rеԛuіrе buѕіnеѕѕеѕ to raise their full stated goal іn оrdеr tо keep аnу оf thе mоnеу rаіѕеd.
Tоdау’ѕ business-for-sale marketplace is full оf еxсіtіng орроrtunіtіеѕ that wіll аllоw уоu to take your dеѕtіnу іntо уоur оwn hands, аnd wіth vаrіоuѕ options аvаіlаblе thеrе’ѕ no rеаѕоn to lеt a ѕhоrtаgе of traditional capital ѕоurсеѕ gеt in the wау of уоur dreams.
Dr. Teresa R Martin
Dr. Teresa R Martin, Esq. is a Motivational Speaker, Author, Million Dollar Real Estate Wealth Coach, Business Strategist, and Legal Counsel. She is living the life she loves and can teach you how to do the same!
As Founder of the Generational Wealth Zone Group, Teresa Martin formed the original vision for a group of companies that would help clients create, manage, protect and grow their wealth. She is dedicated to showing individuals and entrepreneurs how to become financially empowered by turning the work they love into a profitable and sustainable business.
Interview With Bruce Norris of The Norris Group, Riverside, California
By Christina Suter, FIBI Pasadena
I recently spoke with my industry colleague and good friend Bruce Norris about what it took for him to break through from who he was as a young man to the guru he is today. Bruce is an active investor, hard money lender, and real estate educator with over 30 years of experience. He is the founder of The Norris Group and has been involved in more than 2,000 real estate transactions as a buyer, seller, builder, and money partner. Bruce has dedicated himself to understanding the economic field in Southern California, and it shows in his work.
Bruce was married at 17, fired five times in a row, and eventually got the hang of getting a job. After reading How To Win Friends and Influence People, Bruce said he learned about avoiding the acute angle, which is finding a way to find an argument in everything. The book taught him to diffuse it and to enjoy the skill of learning to diffuse it.
Bruce then got a job in sales, where he sold electrical supplies for six years. One day he was invited to join a man to watch his attempt to buy a house wholesale. After the house was purchased, Bruce realized his life experiences could translate into the real estate buying business. In his electrical business, Bruce sold supplies to people who already had suppliers. In real estate, he convinced people to sell their house to him because he had cash and people could close in a few days.
One of the skills Bruce has mastered is the power to close a deal. When he negotiates with a seller, he lets them know that based on his experience, things work or they don’t, so his offer leaves with him. Bruce tells sellers if they call him back the next day, he will let them know that he’s no longer interested because he wants the power to close and know he’s telling them the truth.
Bruce has earned a reputation in the industry based on his integrity. He will often spend the first 15 minutes speaking with an owner just suggesting things for them that have nothing to do with him making a profit. Bruce will ask about their situation and make recommendations that don’t always lead to him, as a cash buyer, closing the deal.
Someone once referred a couple to go talk to him. He visited the couple for two hours. During that meeting, the husband made it clear to Bruce that he desperately wanted to move to another state, Tennessee, where he had a job waiting for him and his wife. The husband wanted such a full price without commission that he basically got in his own way, Bruce remembered.
There was an underlying desperateness to the man’s situation, so Bruce told him he could sell his house to him that night if he was willing to take less for his house. Bruce closed on their house.
Ten years later, that couple’s 21-year-old son visited his office and informed Bruce that he had been causing trouble in their house, due to his gang involvement. He told Bruce that had if he not bought their house, they wouldn’t have been able to move — and that kid would have ended up dead. He asked Bruce to teach him what he knew and how he was able to purchase his childhood home. That kid went on to open an office on Magnolia and Riverside and bought houses.
The first foreclosure Bruce ever door-knocked was an elderly woman who had $13,000 of debt on a $64,000 house. Because he didn’t want to make the woman homeless, Bruce was able to get the lender to arrange a loan for her — largely thanks to the equity she had in the house. Therefore, she was able to keep her house.
Bruce said he wants both sides of that when he’s a buyer. He wants to be able to look across the table and if he can help the seller make the decision he’d make if he were in their situation, he also wants to be kind enough to let them know when they’re making a mistake.
I asked Bruce how he switched from real estate as a job to having freedom and creating financial stability.
“It really wasn’t a priority to me, so I kept very little inventory for rentals for the first 15 year plus years; I just flipped,” he said.
Bruce added that Jack Fullerton was influential in saying, “That’s great, but what happens if you get hurt or sick? How are you going to have income coming in?”
Bruce said he took that question to heart. While on vacation in Maui, he listened to Robert Kiyosaki’s Rich Dad, Poor Dad. Thus, he learned Kiyosaki’s four ways to make income quadrant.
Bruce said he was always working for someone else or self-employed (the left side of the quadrant) — but on the right side of the quadrant, he was attracted to the two that involved running a business that didn’t need him and collecting checks from investments.
From that vacation on, Bruce changed the way he made income. He said he’s not self-employed because when he goes on vacation, his business can run without him. Thus, he runs a company. Bruce’s loan business, education business, and rentals all started to run without him, and he said he’s probably the least needed person at The Norris Group.
According to Bruce, it took him until late 2005 for his rental income to allow him to feel financially free. He had to think long term and at age 33, a $30,000 profit from a flip was more appealing to him than a cash flow of $200. Bruce said it took him a while to want to be methodical with the rental income and to actually fulfill that vision.
Bruce and The Norris Group can be reached at www.thenorrisgroup.com
Christina Suter
As the founder and lead consultant of Ground Level Consulting, Christina L. Suter brings two decades of real-world experience as a serial small business owner and real estate investor. She developed her extensive financial and operational skills firsthand as she faced and overcame each difficulty that appeared along the way. As a result, she started up, managed and sold several businesses successfully, while developing an extensive real estate portfolio.
In 2002, Christina made the decision to leverage her experience into helping other small business owners and property owners through a consulting practice that works the way an entrepreneur works, dealing with the pressing problems of a business on the ground level and in real time. Since then, she has supported numerous companies throughout southern California and the western United States move beyond surviving to thriving.
Christina’s solid background and education–including a Bachelors in Business, an Associates in Teaching and a Masters in Psychology–strongly influence her work with your company as a Ground Level client. Not only does she have a keen insight into what will make or break the success of your business, but she can teach you the skills you need going forward. And she does this in a warm, supportive, non-judgmental way that is always highly respectful of your personal values.