80 Lessons Learned - Volume III - Real Estate Lessons: On the Road from $80,000 to $80,000,000

By Thomas Beyer

Having started 15 years ago with a single rental pooled condo, then growing to over $100M in assets with over 1000 tenants, then surviving and thriving through a brutal worldwide recession, one has some battle scars. Real estate is not only up up up but also down down down for a while and to attract over $40M in investor capital from 600+ investors without losing a cent one has to get a few things right.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Nov 4, 2013
• ISBN: 9780992108335

Book preview

Copyright © 2013 Thomas Beyer

All rights reserved. No parts of this work may be reproduced in any form, except short references giving the author credit, without the prior written consent of the publisher or author.

The information in this book is provided for information purposes and is intended to be a general guideline only. It is not legal, financial, tax, insurance or accounting advice. Such advice may only be given by licensed professional. It is just the author’s (informed?) opinion.

ISBN: 978-0-9921083-3-5

Publisher: Prestigious Properties® Canada Ltd.

Copyright Canada, USA & the World 2013

First Edition: October 2013

Author: Thomas Beyer

80 Lessons learned is available in the following formats:

ISBN: 978-0-9921083-0-4 – 80 Lessons Learned – complete book (print version)

ISBN: 978-0-9921083-1-1 – 80 Lessons Learned – I - In Life

ISBN: 978-0-9921083-2-8 – 80 Lessons Learned – II - In Business

ISBN: 978-0-9921083-3-5 – 80 Lessons Learned – III- In Real Estate

Feedback & Comments: [e-mail]

May you learn a thing or eight! Please feel encouraged to drop me a line on what was most insightful .. and please drop me another line if you did not learn at least eight things (or if you actually found an error or typo)!

CONTENTS

Foreword by Don R. Campbell

Author’s Note and Acknowledgements

Dedication

Part 3: Real Estate Lessons

Lesson 62: How to Start out in Real Estate Investing

Lesson 63: The Five Ways to Make Money

Lesson 64: Working – Earning an Income (Investing Your Own Time)

Lesson 65: Investing Your Own Money

Lesson 66: Investing Other People’s Money (OPM)

Lesson 67: Employing Other People (Investing Other People’s Time)

Lesson 68: Intellectual Property

Lesson 69: The First Steps to Becoming a Real Estate Investor

Lesson 70: Is a 50/50 Joint Venture Fair?

Lesson 71: Buying vs. Owning – You Make Money When You Buy

Lesson 72: Buying vs. Owning – The Three R’s of Property Management

Lesson 73: Real Estate Is Not a Get Rich Quick Scheme, It’s a Get Rich for Sure Scheme

Lesson 74: Real Estate Is Like a Three-Course Meal™

Lesson 75: Making the Jump From Single Family to Multi-Family

Lesson 76: How I Got Started: Awareness, Knowledge, Action!

Lesson 77: The Cash Flow Myth

Lesson 78: Good Debt vs. Bad Debt

Lesson 79: Income Thinking vs. Net Worth Thinking

Lesson 80: Choose Real Estate Investments That Make Sense to You

Lesson 81: Real Estate Transaction Costs and the Virtual Life of a Building (not quite the extra 10 percent, but hey, a bonus lesson in any case!)

Epilogue

Aftertword by Greg Habstritt

About the Author

FOREWARD BY DON R. CAMPBELL

There is a hard and fast rule in life, business and personal relationships, a rule that governs my choices. This simple yet very effective rule helps me stay focused on what works and allows me to propel myself forward in all aspects of life, while at the same time keeping me away from unwanted and frankly dangerous distractions. Most importantly, it helps me choose who to listen to and whose advice to take. I call this rule The Final 30 Feet Rule.

The Final 30 Feet Rule states: Never take advice from someone who has not already successfully accomplished what you want to be successful at. For a comedian, it means do not listen to anyone who hasn’t walked that final 30 feet from behind the curtain to standing alone in front of an audience. For investors or business owners, it means the only people worth listening to are those who have created business or investing success that far surpasses yours.

WHO IS YOUR TRAIL GUIDE?

By following this rule, you quickly eliminate most of the authors, advice givers or coaches because so many of them are theorists, with limited success in business. If I am on a dangerous and unfamiliar trail, I don’t want a guide who just has an idea about the trail, I want a guide who knows the trail like the back of their hand. They’ve been on the trail many times and they know the twists, turns and dangerous spots.

Why is this important for you to understand as you consider this book?

Simply, the author of this book, Thomas Beyer, is on my very small list of people who fit this description.

I continually learn from him.

To name just a few of the lessons included in this book:

Don’t Confuse Getting Things Done with Doing Them Yourself

The Phases of Cleaning Up Your Life Messes

The Anatomy of Uncomfortable Change

Asking Questions Separates You from the Crowd

How to Choose a Partner

Green Money vs. Red & Blue Money

When I look for insights into my business or investments I make sure that I speak with Thomas as part of my diligence. He is successful in business, in personal relationships and in real estate investing and in this book he shares 80 tips that will help propel you forward—as many of them have done along my journey.

Pick up the book, listen to someone who has already cleared the path forward with his own hard work and your journey will become much clearer.

Don R. Campbell

Investor, Bestselling Author & Philanthropist

www.DonRCampbell.com

AUTHOR’S NOTE & ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Real estate has been around hundreds of years. I didn’t invent apartment buildings nor their proper management nor their passive income or their leverage potential with income nor their tax deferral options nor their (usual) increase in value through time and improvements. Neither, for that matter, am I exceptionally good at investing in them. Knowing what you want is important as is careful p(l)anning, but execution is key, as is a sense of urgency, listening, reading and kaizen. Knowledge helps a lot, as does a sense of life’s opportunities and the ability to take advantage of them, but also useful is awareness of life’s risks and how to mitigate or manage them. Being in the market at the right time helps too. And thanking God and others is important, as is having fun while doing what some people call work. And there are no guarantees or advice in this book, just (informed?) opinions!

Knowledge is no one’s sole domain. I acknowledge shamelessly copying other people’s good ideas that I picked up during conversations, telephone calls, meetings, presentations, education, courses, tapes and CDs over the years. Those people also learned and possibly also copied some of those ideas from other people’s books, tapes, CDs, courses, seminars or lectures. I have used material from the people listed below, and probably dozens more. Please forgive me if I have copied your original thought and not given you credit.

Many people have influenced my life, my values, my thought processes and my business and real estate investment career.

I wish to give credits to their sometimes very small or sometimes hugely influential contributions, many of which are sprinkled throughout this book:

Don & Connie