Kevin Guz

  • 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.

4 Tips to Take Your First REI Step

4 Tips to Take Your First REI Step

Taking the first step is one of the most significant and common obstacles for a new or part-time investor who is looking to get started. Most people struggle to take the first step. I’ll admit, it is the most difficult step and probably the least rewarding one. Taking the First ...
Never Look Back – Except Maybe, Now

Never Look Back – Except Maybe, Now

| Article | Fundamentals, Operations
We've all heard or been told to live by the mantra of never looking back, that the past is leave it behind you and continue to move forward. I'll admit, I don't disagree with this approach for life or real estate investing. However, there comes a time when you can ...
Rental

Rental Properties, Like Money in the Bank

I have been a real estate investor in Dallas, Texas for over 10 years, and just like many of you, I started part-time. Now I'm a full-time investor. Many investors start as part-time with the intention of going full-time. Let me explain how I was able to go full-time with ...
Get Up

Get Up, Survive and Thrive

| Article | Fundamentals, Operations
We are wrapping up the first quarter of 2017, and I continue to prepare for the remainder of the year here in Dallas, Texas. Yet after talking to other real estate investors, in various markets, I have recognized a unique theme: the residential real estate environment, right now, is an ...
Nine numbers to help determine a profitable rental

Nine numbers to help determine a profitable rental

What constitutes a good, profitable rental property? There’s no one, single answer to that question. No matter how many people you ask or how many calculations you run, you’re probably going to get that many different answers. I remember when I was starting out as a weekend or part-time investor, ...
Discipline = Freedom

Discipline = Freedom

| Article | Fundamentals, Operations
As a real estate investor, I would venture to say that many people who aspire to be real estate investors are very likely aspiring for freedom. The freedom they hear about, learn about and read about, which results from owning your own business - specifically, owning your own real estate ...
Disruptions are a Good Thing

Disruptions are a Good Thing

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 ...
Real Estate Investing: Simple vs. Easy

Real Estate Investing: Simple vs. Easy

| Article | Fundamentals, Operations
The distinction between simple and easy is critical for real estate investors. I’ll admit, I didn’t understand the distinction myself until I had been investing for quite some time. Your ability to recognize and differentiate between the two could be a strong indicator of your future success. That’s why I ...
Are you ready for a transition?

Are You Ready to Transition to Full-Time Investing?

| Article | Fundamentals, Operations
There are many part-time real estate investors who ask this one specific question, “Am I ready to transition from part-time real estate investing to full-time?” I know from my own experience this question is an important one. I started investing in real estate 10 years ago, part-time, and five years ...
Be the Best Version of Yourself

Be the Best Version of Yourself

| Article | Fundamentals, Operations
There are real estate investors out there who are striving to be their best. Yet there are a lot of real estate investors who are not even sure what they should be good at. This was me, more than 10 years ago. As I did my due diligence and pondered ...
Are Your Goals and Expectations Realistic?

Are Your Goals and Expectations Realistic?

| Article | Fundamentals, Operations
In a blog post, earlier this year, we talked a lot about goals—and specifically, goals for 2017. Veteran and beginning real estate investors alike will set their goals based on what they want to accomplish in a given year. But are your goals realistic? New and part-time real estate investors ...
Keep Your Real Estate New Year Resolution

Keep Your 2017 Real Estate Resolutions

| Article | Fundamentals, Operations
As we make our New Year resolutions and move to achieve those resolutions, many of us have already failed. And here we are only in January. There are a lot of data sources and numbers vary, but it is said that normally only about 8 percent of people’s New Year’s ...
What's Your Personality?

What’s Your Personality?

| Article | Fundamentals, Operations
As a real estate investor, are you an investor, or are you a speculator? There is a significant difference. Speculating is when you form a theory or conjecture about a subject without firm evidence—for example, investing in the stock market. You’re buying shares of a certain stock in the hopes ...
Set Yourself Apart from the Crowd

3 Ways to Stand Out from the Crowd

| Article | Fundamentals, Operations
How will you be remembered as a real estate investor? Or more specifically, what is going to set you apart from the crowd of real estate investors in the eyes of a distressed homeowner seeking a buyer for that property? It’s a measure of your success that allows you to ...
Real Estate Investor Mindset

Do You Have a Real Estate Investor Mindset?

Do you have the right mindset to succeed as a real estate investor? I wish I could give you one simple silver bullet answer to that question. I wish it were that simple, but it’s not. There are many different traits or characteristics, I believe, that enable somebody to be successful ...
values

3 “Values” of Real Estate Investors

| Article | Fundamentals, Operations
Though we are most familiar with the concept of value as a number, it is so much more than that. Today we are going to focus on 3 measures of value in real estate investing. There are many other forms of value than just a numerical one that are present ...
Are you focusing on progress over profits?

Are you focusing on progress over profits?

| Article | Fundamentals, Operations
To put the subject of “Progress Over Profits” into context, I recently heard another real estate investor say, “When you chase money it will run.” And I couldn’t agree more. Based on my own personal experience as a full-time real estate investor in Dallas, Texas, for more than 10 years ...
Real Estate business concept

Does a Real Estate Investor Need a License to Succeed?

I imagine many real estate investors who are new, part-time or just thinking about investing ask this question after doing their due diligence: Do I need a license to buy real estate? This is a great question, regardless of the scale of investing you plan to do. I know it ...
Shot of a young businesswoman looking stressed while working on her laptophttp://195.154.178.81/DATA/i_collage/pi/shoots/806127.jpg

Stay Out of Desperation Mode to be a Successful Investor

| Article | Fundamentals, Operations
Among the many things I’ve learned in my 10-plus years as a real estate investor in Dallas is that desperation creates regrets, and motivation creates results. That is at the root of the concept of acting like a buyer versus thinking like a professional buyer—or looking to buy versus recognizing ...
Motivation...or Excuse?

Motivation…or Excuse?

| Article | Fundamentals, Operations
If real estate investing is so great, why doesn’t everyone do it?” is a question that many wannabe or future investors ask themselves. I certainly did. Whether you’re already a full-time investor, a part-time investor or someone just considering whether to become one, it’s a question that you’ll have as ...
SEO ranking

How to Avoid Regrets in Your Real Estate Investing

| Article | Fundamentals, Operations
As real estate investors, we look back and all have regrets. I draw upon my own experience of investing here in the Dallas market for more than 10 years, and as I look back at my business, in retrospect there are definitely things I regret. My mistakes include things I ...
Pensive businessman reading a contract

Are You an Investor or a Speculator in Real Estate Investing?

| Article | Fundamentals, Operations
As a real estate investor, are you an investor, or are you a speculator? There is a significant difference. Speculating is when you form a theory or conjecture about a subject without firm evidence—for example, investing in the stock market. You’re buying shares of a certain stock in the hopes ...
Close-up Of Person Hand Holding Puzzle With Question Mark Sign

3 ‘Unknowns’ that are Critical to a Real Estate Investor’s Success

Looking back to when I started as a part-time real estate investor 10 years ago, I remember feeling some concern or even worry about whether I was prepared enough. Regardless of the amount of due diligence and effort I put into my business plan or even the general preparation I ...
Calculator and pencil

Do the Numbers Square With the Hype in Real Estate Investing?

| Article | Fundamentals, Operations
There’s a lot of excitement, interest and energy around residential real estate investing. But at the end of the day, the prudent investor—or the individual who is considering real estate investing, if he or she is smart—needs to look at the numbers. Make sure the numbers are aligned with and ...
Close-up Of A Person Giving Key To Man

9 Numbers to Help Identify a Profitable Rental Property

| Article | Fundamentals, Operations
What constitutes a good, profitable rental property? There’s no one, single answer to that question. No matter how many people you ask or how many calculations you run, you’re probably going to get that many different answers. I remember when I was starting out as a weekend or part-time investor, ...