Over time, we are taught and trained in school, at work, or at home, that we need to eliminate distractions so we can focus. That this is the only way we can stay on course and true to our objectives. But when you are a real estate investor, disruptions are a good thing. I know that probably sounds a little unconventional or perhaps even a little surprising, but disruptions are necessary to propel your real estate investing business to the next level. I know this sounds unconventional – and it is – but I speak from my own experience as a real estate investor here in Dallas, Texas, for 10 years.
I come from a very significant corporate background, and I will admit, we were trained and coached to eliminate all distractions. However, when I transitioned from life as a corporate employee to being a full-time real estate investor, entrepreneur, and business owner, I found that the disruptions were and still are a good thing. The disruptions in every aspect of my life, from my career as a real estate investor to the growth of myself, have challenged me. They have given me valuable experiences, sometimes in unanticipated situations where I had to face those experiences head on. Disruptions have given me lessons to learn, new understandings and new competencies. They are a driving force for my business, my growth, my success as a full-time residential real estate investor. Let me explain why you should embrace them to help you succeed:
Disruptions Assist with Transitioning from Your Paid Job to Full-Time RE Investing
For me, the greatest disruption of all was when I decided to leave a full-time, 20-year professional career in the corporate world. I disrupted all of the comfort, security, compensation, and familiarity to start my career as a full-time real estate investor and business owner. That’s incredibly disruptive, and I’m sure this is apparent for our current readers, who might be part-time investors and are thinking about leaving a full-time career. It is a huge disruption, financially, professionally and personally. It is a difficult moment when you have to tell your significant other, friends or family that you are leaving behind the corporate job to start your own business as a real estate investor.
But at the same time, that disruption, when I left my full-time career, it was truly the most pivotal moment for success in my life. Here are three reasons why.
- Financially it has been a wonderful disruption, and the accumulation of wealth, as a real estate investor, has been everything I’ve wanted and hoped it would be.
- Professionally, it’s been energizing and refreshing for me. My corporate career had its time and place but it wasn’t at a time and place that I needed to grow and develop in a different direction. Real estate investing provided that.
- Personally, it’s been a great transition and experience to be a self-employed real estate investor. Its allowed me the flexibility I prefer, not just the day to day but the week and month or within a year. The freedom to do what I want to do, when I want to do it, has been extremely liberating for me, my wife and my family.
So, my point and my experience is the bigger the disruption, the bigger the opportunity got me an overall bigger reward, and it’s definitely applied to my transition from a corporate career to a full-time real estate investor. In time, you will leave your full-time career, if you choose, to achieve your goal of being a full-time real estate investor.
Disrupting Your Own Plans
I have found its incredibly beneficial yet difficult, to disrupt my own plans. The challenge of disrupting myself has helped me see opportunities and has raised the challenges I have met. When you disrupt your current thinking and course of action, many opportunities for personal and professional growth will be uncovered. Let’s face it, we all have plans. I’ll be the first to admit, we don’t always know what we are doing. What we think we’re doing properly may not be correct. When you mentally reserve the right to correct your thinking, change that plan your outcomes will expand.
Here is an example of what I changed: I started out as a full-time real estate investor. I jumped right into rehabbing houses — fix-and-flips – buying them as is, doing complete renovations, and selling them for full retail through the MLS, ultimately thinking that was my job, my career, my profession and my business. I learned that’s not really what I enjoyed doing and wasn’t what I was good at doing. Fixing-and-flipping was not my core competency. I decide to make a huge change in my business plan, and a huge change in my thinking.
I shifted my core exit strategy to rental properties and wholesaling investment properties to other investors. I found these two exit strategies, rentals and wholesaling, were what I enjoyed doing. This is what I was good at doing, and that’s where my core competencies rested. Ultimately, that is where my greatest rewards come. In no way am I saying fixing-and-flipping or rehabbing properties are not a good thing to do, [that they’re not] a good exit strategy or a profitable exit strategy. Fixing-and-flipping is a wonderful strategy. But my point is that [fix-and-flip] was my plan, and that’s what I thought I was going to do, until I disrupted that plan and how I viewed my own business.
Be prepared to change your mind. Be willing to change your plan, disrupt your thinking, and you’ll be surprised at the rewards.
Allow Yourself to Disturb…Yourself.
Another type of disruption is your ability or willingness to disrupt yourself. We continually allow ourselves to be disrupted by others. But rarely do we allow ourselves to disrupt ourselves. The irony being we are unforgiving of ourselves but all others to disrupt us without a second thought. What I encourage you to do, as a real estate investor, don’t hesitate to disrupt yourself. I was running so much that I was focused on “the now,” but when I disrupted my own thoughts it allowed me to disrupt myself. I ventured off into self-storage. It has proven incredibly rewarding for me but it wasn’t until I made that disruption in my business and stepped out of my comfort zone and way of thinking, that I was able to reap those benefits. The synergies between my current business and my commercial ventures are there yet there are also many differences. But I would have never discovered it if I never explored the idea of disrupting myself.
And so, the belief should be that we are our biggest disruption. We allow others to disrupt us all of the time, we allow other things to disrupt us but do we allow ourselves to disrupt ourselves? And it’s very important for you, as a real estate investor, to challenge yourself, to disrupt yourself and allow yourself to explore new opportunities, develop new competencies, and new areas of your real estate investing business. You’ll be shocked what you are able to do once you disrupt yourself and your thinking. Allow yourself to be disruptive, and accept the fact that you’re going to be disrupted at any times is critical to your success. Real estate investing is all about identifying opportunities, converting them into outcomes, providing solutions. Welcome disruptions, then the disguised opportunities will grow and develop, propelling you and your business forward.
To listen to Kevin Guz’s podcast, click here.
About the Author
Kevin Guz is a Dallas, Texas-based residential real estate investor with more than 10 years of investing experience. He owns a HomeVestors (or “We Buy Ugly Houses”) franchise as well as the Clear Key companies, which focus on residential real estate wholesaling, rental property management and self-storage leasing. He also is a licensed real estate agent in the state of Texas. He enjoys sharing his ongoing personal experiences, perspectives and learnings from his start as a part-time or “weekend investor” and full-time corporate professional through his ultimate transition to a full-time real estate investor and business owner. You can listen to his podcasts at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/kevinguz.
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