What am I doing? That’s what I asked myself. For three hours, I messed around on my laptop trying to figure out the marketing plan  I wanted for my website.

I couldn’t take it anymore. I was hot! Even a fancy fan couldn’t cool me off!

I had to get out. I went outside to the shed. Grab my electric weed-wacker and started doing something that I hate to do… yard work.

I came to the tipping point. I would rather do yard work than try to come up with another article that probably would not get read.

Have you ever gotten to a point in your business life, when you ask yourself…

• What Am I Doing?
• What Is The Point?
• What Am I Trying To Accomplish?

Five minutes into the butchering my front yard weeds I had a moment of clarity. You know that aha moment. So close to your face you can’t even see it. It goes something like the last scene of “Coming To America.”

As I cut short the lives of ground ivy and white clover weeds, I finally realized who I needed to speak to.

Me.

Eminem stated…

..there’s a million of us just like me…
who dress like me; walk, talk and act like me

Agents who enjoy investment real estate. Who would rather refer business to others and have a life. Who don’t want to cart around Mr. & Mrs. We Decided To Rent Because The We FEEL the Market Is Going to Go Down Even Further So We Will Call You Next Year Thanks For Driving Us Around These Past Few Weeks.

There are thousands of local real estate agents who have done the By Referral Only, Craig Proctor, Brian Buffini, Mike Ferry training.

Only to feel dazed and confused as to why they never achieved their goal of being on the Realtor 30 Under 30 List.

Who am I talking to?

I’m talking to those who, like me, got into this business because of a real estate agent friend who owned rental property. You saw the income from those rental was enough to take care of her families needs. They didn’t live like the Trumps, but they weren’t the Joneses.

You saw that she helped about 10 to 20 people buy or sell property. She had a flexible schedule to spend time with family and friends.

That’s why you got into real estate, right? Your goal wasn’t to be Ms. America Real Estate or Mr. Top-Office Producer.

You wanted to have enough money to cover your families needs and a comfortable emergency fund so that you didn’t have to stress out. You could care less about office awards, certificates, and designations.

Is that’s you? Are you just like me?

That was my moment of clarity as I ended the lives of the stick weeds and crabgrass.

What are the next steps for us?

For those who want to become investing real estate agents, sign up on my list and receive my Income Property Blueprint.

For those of you who have a day job and just happen to own a property or two, go ahead and  do the same thing.

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In 2002, a movie featuring Eminem and Brittany Murphy was released called, “8 Mile,” it had one of the most inspiring songs I ever heard called “Lose Yourself.”

“You only get one shot, do not miss your chance to blow.” Eminem ryhmes, “This opportunity comes once in a lifetime.”

Is there opportunity in the marketplace right now?

Say Yes.

But here’s the problem.

Do you know how to find them? Do you know what to do when you find? Do you even know that opportunity is looking over your shoulder right now?

I’ve changed my entire business model to capitalize on the opportunities that are available right now.

As a recovering retail residential real estate agent, I put myself in a 12-step program to work with only high-net worth individuals who like their day jobs.

Though I’ve relapsed from time-to-time, I realize this time in history has already generated the future Bill Gates, Warren Buffetts, and Donald Trumps. Those who lose themselves with producing results and not excuses will survive no matter who is president or governmental policies.

And Eminem has done just that.
He’s not only a brilliant storyteller, but an example of Teamwork To Success

Marshall Mathers, a.k.a., Eminem is more than a lyrical sniper, but an example of how partnering with others can catapult your success.

It doesn’t matter if you would rather pull out your ear drums with dirty chopsticks, before you would listen to his rap music. Pay attention to the business side of successful music artist, there’s plenty to learn.

What Eminem Can Teach you about Setting up your Income Property Power Team

1) Treat it as a Business and not a hobby.

Marshall Mathers may have started writing while just a child, but this is no hobby.  Read this next sentence twice… Do not participate in real estate investing as a hobby. It is to expensive and time consuming.

A hobby cost you money, but can provide mental enjoyment.

A true business is going to do both for the owner.

Marshall familiarized himself with the great storytelling artist. Even though most of you aren’t going to do this next step… discuss your plans about raising capital with your state’s securities corporate commission office and ask them to school you on regulation D.

2) Pick Members of the Team to get Started

Eminem’s meteoric rise can be contributed to his relationship with music legend Dr. Dre. Because of having Dr. Dre as a team member, doors were opened and money eventually walked in.

What does this mean for you? It is always best to partner with folks who have experience in doing what you want.

However, you must bring something of value to the table.

• What are you strengths, talents, or connections?
• Write them down right now.
• What are some of your closest friends and colleagues strengths?
• Now start connecting the dots.

For example, one of my main strengths is being fearless on the phone. That’s why I have a KJAM Radio Show on iTunes.  I am to busy to hunt down all the low-hanging fruit opportunities this economy is providing. I have partnered with organizations from across the country that bring me unique non-MLS real estate and business deals.

Visit your local high-end real estate office. Interview brokers who don’t cringe about placing aggressive offers.

3) Share Investing Strategies and Future Potential

One of the things that makes Eminem so effective is how he paints mental pictures with his words. It is a skill that can be learned.

Share with others how you envision the highest and best use of a project.

Picture yourself in front of a property and telling your team…

Yes, this house is missing a front door, the windows are smashed, and the roof is caved in. But you need to look past that.

This house doesn’t want to be a home. It actually wants to be dental office space. With soft music, comfortable chairs and luxury ceiling fans that will breeze money into our pockets.

4) Get them Investing not Consuming

Eminem’s songs have achieved rare commercially success, because his team is focused on production. Their is a huge difference between an investor and a consumer. Tell your team to stop reading books, listening to tapes or watching videos.  It is time to start writing contracts, knocking doors and making phone calls.

Investors make money. Consumer spend money. Spend 80% of your time trying to get hit by the bus of opportunity.

5) Begin Raising capital and Partnering Deals

Marshall actions come down to raising capital to do bigger things. His team raised capital to sign the rap mega-star 50 cent. His team raised capital and partnership to start a Shady Ltd, a sports fashion line.

Real estate investing is very simple. There’s only two things you need to do. Find Deals and Find Money. Every thing else is a distraction.

Have you ever been at networking event and had to give a 30 second commercial?

Recently, I went to a non-real estate networking event. For my 30 second commercial, I told the group that I had a $1.5 billion real estate tape that needed to be filled, and was looking to partner with someone.

Guess what happen?

I found a serious qualified partner.

Have you created a team yet?

Moving Forward,

Kendall Matthews

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Like Graffiti In Your Living Room? (Photo: Zoomar)

When I was in high school, I heard my first horror story about the danger of renting to a section 8 renter.  A friend of my father, who had recently divorced, decided to rent out his too-large-for-one-person home.

He wasn’t a real estate investor, or expected to be the next Donald Trump; he was just a regular Joe the Plumber type-of-guy in a tight spot. He felt that if he rented out the property it would fix some of his cash flow problems.

He put an add in the local paper. In a few weeks, he found a family that he thought would be a “gold mine.”

The prospective tenant told him they had section 8 vouchers. The vouchers paved-a-way for the government to cut a landlord a check for a large portion of rent payment, they would be responsible for the small difference. Eighty percent of the rent would be covered by the US government! Very low risk of non-payment.  Great, he thought.

A couple of months later, he found his former neat and tidy home…trashed, wasted, and ruined. It took my father’s handyman help and a $10,000 bank loan to bring the home back to a liveable condition.

That Nightmare on Elm Street experience ended his real estate property management career.

So what did he do wrong? It wasn’t his fault, it was the horrible section 8 renters fault for destroying his home, right?

Soon I will tell you who was right or wrong, but bear with me while I tell you another story.

I played football as a running back for Purdue University.  Go Boilers! My red-shirt freshman year we were playing North Carolina State.  Our senior fullback went out on a pass play. He was wide open.

The quarterback threw him the ball.  A perfect spiral. But something went wrong.

The fullback never turned his head around to look for the ball… it hit him right in the helmet. The ball shot up 30 feet in the air, it was intercepted and ran back for a touchdown. We ultimately lost by one score.

When our fullback came to the sidelines, our running back coached ripped him to shreds.  Then he became quiet, and calmly said something that I will never forget in my life. He said, “Son, it wasn’t your fault. It was mine. I should have never put you in.”

Our family friend should have never put that section 8 renter into his home.  It was his fault. He should of followed some simple steps that would have protected him from having a bad tenant.

Here are 7 key steps you should follow to protect yourself from bad renters:

1) Have them fill out a rental application and charge at least a $25 fee. I want them to have some type of financial commitment. If they can’t afford $25, they shouldn’t rent your property.

2) Run a credit check, maybe use an Equifax program. I don’t care if they’re behind on the medical payments, but if they haven’t paid there car note and owe lots of money to the cell phone company, that’s an immediate red flag to me.

3) Call their previous landlord and drive-by their current residence. If you don’t live in the same city, pay someone to check out the place and take pictures. If they aren’t taking care of their current place, chances are they won’t take care of yours.

4) Contact the section 8 office to understand eviction rules and proceedings. In Mesa, Arizona you would visit http://mesaaz.gov/housing/Section_8/section8home.aspx There is no reason for you not to be fully aware of what you are getting into.

5) Have a 24-hour house inspection notice in the rental agreement. You must know the physical well-being of your property. Visual inspection is a must. You don’t have to do it. If you have a buddy that is in pest control, h/vac, or yard clean up, pay them to inspect and service. Have them give you an update on how the property looks.

6) Purchase a home warranty have the tenant agree to pay for the deductible.

7) Place the tenant on a month-by-month lease. A section 8 renter initially must sign a 12 month lease. However, in your application, state that from month 13 on the contract reverts into a month-to-month lease. Why? A good tenant will stay regardless. A bad tenant will try to use the landlord-tenant act laws against you.

Only time will tell if the person renting your property will care you for it.  However, you can stack the odds in your favor on the front end by doing what Ronald Reagan said, “Trust, but verify.”

Moving Forward,

Kendall Matthews

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 The legendary investor Warren Buffett speaking to graduation mba class part 3[youtube=<object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/r7m7ifUz7r0&rel=1"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/r7m7ifUz7r0&rel=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object>]

Every Thursday night I watch Donald Trumps’ The Apprentice.  I enjoy both its entertainment value and the business lessons it demonstrates.

This season is called the Celebrity Apprentice. The celebrities are not vying for a $100,000 job with Donald Trump, they are raising money for their favorite charities.

In this episode, Gene Simmons, from KISS fame, happily moved over from the all men team, Hydra, to the women’s team called Empresario.  The task was to raise awareness of how Kodak’s new inkjet printing system saves consumers up to 50 percent on everything they print.

Surprisingly, the team that won did not produce the best packaging or slick promotional material, but focused on the goal of the client.

With coffee-ruined laptops, last-minute promotional material, sloppy set-up, and a sub-par layout, Hydra was singularly focused on making sure each prospect understood the new Kodak inkjet system would save printing cost money.  Empresario, with the “benovelent dictactor” Gene Simmons, decided to go the route of big picture highly stylized and flashy vision of it’s a “Kodak World.”

What I learned from this episode is that promotional material is important.  However, having a focused understanding of what your product or service can provide and effectively communicate that knowledge in a clear, concise way is of greater importance and can be done more cost-effectively than any expensive 4-color fluff piece.

If Empresario was able to just tweak Gene Simmons fantastic promotion to explain how it could save the printer ink buying public more time and money they would have won.  In relation to real estate, this could be equal to having a great product, in a good location, but not being able to deliver in terms for financing.  It is important to understand the entire picture, yet focus on the point that will get a unique product, service, or concept sold will ultimately solve a client’s “heartburn” issue.

If you miss the mark on what your unique service proposition should be you will ultimately hear the words that Gene Simmons did from Donald Trump, “You’re fired!” 

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