When you think of real estate investing, you probably envision rental houses, multi-family units, or commercial properties. But just like other kinds of investing, real estate investing has layers. Knowing about and understanding these other investment vehicles can diversify and amplify your investing career.

Successful investors often take an interest in investing at an early age. One of the great gifts of youth is the self-confidence to try new things without knowing all the things that can go wrong. Without that information, you can make decisions at 20 that can completely change the trajectory of your life that you wouldn’t have made at 40.

Taking action is the single surefire way to get started in any profession. It is especially true in the real estate world because, with all the available information, it’s easy to get stuck in too much analysis or research. This theme comes up over and over again on the podcast.

In this episode of Zen and the Art of Real Estate Investing, Jonathan is speaking with Kyle Root, owner and operator of Empire Estates, a leader in long-term rental properties in the Midwest. Kyle began his real estate investing career at 26 years old after spending time in the construction industry and researching the topic of investing.

Whether it’s real estate investing or a multimillion-dollar corporation, the basic components of businesses all operate the same way. If you can grasp the concepts that create a successful business, you can transition your understanding to nearly any industry, including real estate.

Since the inception of Zen and the Art of Real Estate Investing, the podcast has been downloaded more than 30,000 times. While that number can’t compete with Joe Rogan’s downloads, it’s pretty incredible for 35 episodes of a real estate podcast.

A lot of new real estate investors make the mistake of believing it’s passive income. Doing real estate the right way means being involved--especially if you’re new to investing. And you should treat it like any other entrepreneurial venture because it’s a business like any other.

It’s not uncommon for someone to fear real estate investing, especially for people new to the concept. They might believe they don’t have enough money to start or maybe aren’t sure what types of properties they should invest in. Rather than push through their analysis paralysis, they never even begin.

Data is key when it comes to making informed decisions in the real estate investing world. Whether you love spreadsheets or not, data allows you to develop some level of trust with the person doing the data analysis. While some people take comfort in having mentors, others only trust the numbers. And for a lot of people, especially beginners, data allows them to get over the early hump. But is it enough to solely rely on it?

Whether you’re new to property management or still considering it, remember that the happier your tenants are, the fewer calls you get. And sometimes, too, it can be quite difficult to fully understand a property owner’s predicament when you haven’t put yourself in their shoes. That’s why investing in your own property goes a long way – not just in building your wealth, but property management-wise, too. 

Our educational system teaches us how to fit in a box of how to be good employees. But why become somebody else’s passive income, when we can be the ones to create it?

In today’s episode, Jonathan speaks with Ricky Carruth with 20 years of experience in the real estate business, both as an agent and investor. Ricky is the founder of Zero to Diamond, a social media platform as well as a free coaching program for agents to learn and collaborate. Ricky is also looking to buy $100,000,000 of real estate in 2023. 

In today’s conversation, Jonathan chats with Dusten Hendrickson, founder of Mailbox Money and a real estate syndicator. Dusten shares valuable insights into real estate investing, especially, the importance of designing and building well-designed properties and the idea of encouraging your contractors to put some money into equity.

Real estate is a very tough space to navigate but when you have the numbers and you’ve built up your reputation, it's much easier for people to trust you and invest their money with you. 

Living BIG – what does that look like for you? For Sarah Weaver, that meant real estate investing and going from 3 units to 15 units in 90 days across four states. And that’s not all.

On today’s episode, Jonathan speaks with real estate investor Daniel Kong about how he transitioned from a W-2 job as a software developer into a full-time real estate investor in less than four years. Daniel generously shares some tips and strategies that allowed him to carve out his path in real estate.

One of the most important traits for investors is the ability to pivot. As a real estate investor, you need to have multiple exit strategies or opportunities so you’re always ready in case life happens. That’s exactly what Zeona McIntyre had done when she saw that her short-term rentals (STRs) were not doing well during the pandemic and discovered a better market with medium-term or mid-term rentals (MTRs).

A real estate business is far from being passive. There are a lot of things you need to juggle – employees, contractors, investors/partners, property management stuff, etc. You need to carefully research which asset class to invest in and markets to tap into. It’s a big puzzle where you have to make sure all the pieces fit together. There are a lot of things that go into making sure that, not only is your business going to thrive, but also, that you’re bringing value to everyone involved.

Don’t just get paid on a deal once. By putting the right system in place, you can actually get money on a deal now, then continue to get paid monthly, and ultimately, cash it out down the road as you’re building your wealth. That’s exactly what Chris Prefontaine has developed – a system that gives you three paydays per deal, instead of just one.

In today’s conversation, Steve Rozenberg, a veteran in real estate investing joins us today to teach us the mental side of real estate investing and why it’s a building block to future success.