0:00

Whether you're just starting out in real estate investing

0:02

or already making strides. The

0:04

investor evolution podcast is tailored

0:07

for you. Come along as we tackle

0:09

these questions directly. And

0:11

deliver practical insights. to empower

0:13

your journey in the realm of real estate

0:15

investing.

0:16

Hey everyone. And welcome back

0:18

to the investor evolution podcast.

0:21

I'm your host, Kimberly White.

0:23

And I am excited to be here with

0:25

you today. My family

0:27

and I had the most epic.

0:30

Road trip this past couple of weeks.

0:32

And I wanted to tell you about it

0:35

and share some of the

0:37

learnings that I

0:39

came back from. As

0:41

I reflected on that trip. So

0:43

we are in Western Colorado

0:46

in Grand Junction, Colorado. And

0:48

we drove from grand junction, Colorado,

0:50

all the way to Northwest Arkansas,

0:53

where my mom lives. Then we

0:55

traveled to Murfreesboro,

0:57

Tennessee. To visit

0:59

some friends and we spent

1:02

the night there and then all

1:04

of us, a group of us. I went to

1:07

Townsend, Tennessee at the base of the

1:09

great smoky. Mountains

1:12

and enjoyed some camping

1:14

glamping. Really? It was, we

1:16

were in a tiny home, which was really cute. I

1:18

got a great little resort there. We've

1:21

ventured into North Carolina

1:23

because we were so close. And

1:26

on our trip home, we decided

1:29

to, instead of just

1:31

backtrack and go the exact same

1:33

way we came, we decided to make

1:35

a loop. So we went up through

1:38

Kentucky, Indiana,

1:40

Illinois. And then we decided,

1:42

well, let's get some other states in

1:44

our journey. So we hit Iowa,

1:47

Nebraska. And we spent the night in Nebraska

1:50

and then we decided, Hey, let's go through

1:52

Wyoming and then cut down. So

1:54

I think we did a total of 12

1:56

states, including Colorado. And

1:59

about 14 days. Now we have

2:01

quite a bit of stopping, stopping at my mom's

2:03

stopping at her friends, stopping

2:05

and Townsend. But we had

2:08

an incredible amount of time

2:11

in the car, right? Because it was a long

2:13

road trip. And so I wanted

2:15

to share some. Takeaways,

2:19

some thoughts that came up through

2:21

this journey. With you guys,

2:23

as we think about our real estate.

2:26

Journey. So let's see if I can get this

2:28

to work and let's get started. All

2:32

right. So first things, first

2:34

planning. Is essential.

2:36

Right. You have to know. Where

2:38

you're going to get

2:41

where you want to go. Right. So

2:43

for the road trip, we

2:45

had our Google maps. We needed

2:47

to know kind of the places that we

2:49

were going to stop the itinerary as

2:52

it was. Do we need to

2:54

stop for lunch dinner, where we about

2:56

plan to stop? Are we driving straight

2:58

through or are we spending the night

3:01

somewhere? My mom's house

3:03

from our house is about 17

3:05

hours of driving. Which

3:07

is a lot. And you, you might

3:09

be thinking there's no way I could do that

3:12

with my kids. We have done

3:14

this trip twice a year.

3:17

Since my. Son

3:20

has been my, my oldest son

3:23

was born. So we've done this. Many

3:26

times. At least 26 times,

3:28

right. Because he's 13. And

3:30

so it's, it's something that we have done

3:33

we're used to. So for us,

3:35

it's, it's just the trip. A lot

3:37

of times that first leg

3:39

of the journey. Um,

3:42

sometimes we'll break it up into two days,

3:44

but usually that first. Going

3:46

out to my moms will drive it all

3:49

in one straight shot. And, you know,

3:51

it's total about 19 hours

3:53

total, right? With stops and bathroom

3:55

breaks and all that. But

3:58

you kind of need to know what your plan is

4:01

before you get started. As

4:03

far as real estate investing goes,

4:06

you need to know where you're going

4:08

to get, where you want to go. If

4:11

you don't have a plan, if you don't have an idea.

4:14

You're going to be in this murky middle, where

4:16

you're just kind of floating, seeing

4:19

what everybody else is doing. And

4:22

wondering why you're not moving anywhere. It's

4:24

because you don't have a destination that

4:27

you're going for. And guys, I'm talking

4:29

to myself when I'm talking to you

4:31

because I've been in that spot where.

4:34

I didn't really know where I wanted to go.

4:37

Um, taking in all this information,

4:39

but not really doing any action because

4:41

I wasn't sure what I really wanted.

4:44

So as you get started

4:46

in your real estate journey. Have

4:49

a plan in mind. Now we'll

4:51

talk about this as we go. Can it shift?

4:53

Absolutely. But you're

4:55

not going to get started if you don't have

4:58

a destination in mind. So pick

5:00

a pick an avatar, pick

5:02

a. An investment

5:05

type that you want to be involved in.

5:07

And just start making. Incremental

5:11

changes to work towards

5:13

that goal. So that you can

5:16

start adapting and evolving

5:18

to where you really want to go, because you

5:20

may say, okay, I want to get to this. You

5:22

know, I want my first buy and hold.

5:25

Great. And you get there. You may change your

5:27

mind and say, actually, I really want multifamily.

5:29

Your, your plans

5:31

may change as you go. And that's totally

5:34

fine. But you have to at

5:36

least get started to figure

5:38

that out. Okay. Expect the

5:40

unexpected be prepared

5:42

for detours and have

5:45

an emergency plan and real

5:47

estate and an emergency fund in

5:49

place. With our journey.

5:51

We had some construction,

5:53

right? So he had a little bit of delays,

5:56

maybe a few detours. But nothing

5:58

too crazy. We were about

6:00

an hour from my mom's house. It was about

6:02

1230 in the morning. So he had

6:04

been driving forever. And

6:07

we came up on a car fire.

6:10

A semi-truck cab was on

6:12

fire. In the middle of nowhere,

6:14

Missouri. So at the bottom of Missouri,

6:16

there's. Nowhere around.

6:19

I mean, it was a really small town.

6:21

In this. Semi-truck

6:23

was on fire. Not sure why

6:26

what happened? And we came

6:28

up, we were right behind the police before

6:30

the fire trucks had even gotten there. So

6:33

we were stuck there for about an hour

6:35

waiting for them to put it out. We got to watch

6:37

a little. Firefighting and

6:39

actions. So that was kind of cool. But

6:42

we were ready to get to our destination, but sometimes

6:44

those delays, those detours pop

6:46

up. When you least expect them.

6:49

If you can be prepared.

6:51

For those unexpected challenges

6:54

in real estate. You know, every

6:57

real estate transaction, every real

6:59

estate flip, there's always something.

7:01

There's always something that comes up that.

7:05

You weren't expecting. Maybe

7:08

you. Are

7:10

wanting to move a wall and you find out, oh

7:12

man, that's a load bearing wall. I can't quite do

7:14

it. Or maybe you get in there and you

7:17

realize the plumbing in the bathroom

7:19

has been leaking. And now

7:21

we have to replace the sub floor, which we weren't

7:23

anticipating that cost of doing

7:26

whatever it might be. There's there's always

7:28

something that pops up. So be

7:30

prepared, plan for it. Have a contingency

7:33

budget. In place. A

7:35

lot of times people will have an

7:37

additional 10, 20%.

7:40

Budgeted. Into their

7:42

rehab budget. For

7:44

that very reason, because a lot of times

7:47

you need it. So be prepared. And

7:50

you might find that that's a load bearing wall and

7:52

you can't do what you were anticipating doing.

7:55

Being able to shift

7:57

and figure out a different way.

7:59

Go through that detour. Is

8:02

a great skill to learn. And

8:04

you learn that by going through it right.

8:08

Okay, next one. Flexibility

8:10

is key. So same kind of

8:12

along that same lines, right? If

8:14

you have that. Load

8:17

bearing wall that you were expecting to

8:20

tear out and you can't being able

8:22

to be flexible and pivot is

8:25

super huge. Now,

8:28

and this goes for traveling too. Maybe

8:31

someone gets sick along the way, right?

8:33

My poor husband, we ended

8:36

up, we were two days behind leaving

8:38

because he got Salmonella food

8:41

poisoning and there was no way that man was sitting

8:43

in the car for 12 hours of driving.

8:45

Right. So we had to wait for

8:47

him to. Feel

8:50

better and be able to make

8:52

it. And, you know, in a car for several

8:54

hours. So we

8:57

had to be flexible in our timeline of leaving,

8:59

right. Same thing with closings. Right. You

9:02

guys know. You have

9:04

this expected close date and

9:07

sometimes it gets delayed. Maybe it's because

9:09

of paperwork. We're waiting for stuff from the

9:11

title company, maybe an unexpected

9:13

lien pops up. And you have to deal

9:16

with that and decide if you're even going to take

9:18

this project on. Maybe

9:21

the seller had some other things that came

9:23

up and you need to wait

9:26

a little bit before you can close whatever

9:28

it is. Being able

9:30

to be flexible, to pivot,

9:32

to move. Is very helpful.

9:35

And. It's a great

9:37

mindset to be able to like, okay, cool. Okay.

9:40

This came up now, what, what am

9:42

I going to do? How am I going to plan for it? How

9:44

am I going to move around it? When you have

9:46

that? Ability to

9:49

flex and change with the situations

9:52

you're a great person to work with because you

9:54

see opportunities and learning

9:56

in those obstacles instead of frustration

9:59

and complaining, right. We

10:02

want to work with people like that. So

10:04

being flexible with your strategies. And

10:06

being able to pivot when needed.

10:09

Super helpful skill to learn. Alright,

10:12

network and connect. So

10:14

meeting new people and learning from the locals.

10:17

Now this can. Be used in

10:19

a lot of different ways. So on our trip. We

10:22

went to, uh, Murfreesboro,

10:24

Tennessee. And then we went to Townsend

10:27

Tennessee for our camping trip.

10:30

And there were a couple of other families. That,

10:33

um, came and joined us.

10:35

We, they are new to us, but friends

10:37

with our friends. And it was

10:39

great to meet with them, to talk with them,

10:42

to learn from them about the local area

10:44

hear about their experiences. In

10:47

that area. They had been to that campground before.

10:49

So learning what they liked, what they've

10:51

done, how they had a good

10:53

time. The last time, it was really important.

10:56

And this comes back to

10:58

networking within the real estate

11:00

space, because you're going to learn

11:03

so much from others.

11:05

You're going to learn from others who have gone

11:07

down that path. And

11:10

you're going to learn from their experiences

11:12

that can help you move forward

11:14

faster when you're listening

11:17

to them, hearing their stories, knowing

11:19

what pitfalls that you need to be

11:21

aware of and plan for.

11:24

And be ready for those things

11:27

can be really helpful. So

11:29

make sure you're getting out and

11:32

going to local meetups. And

11:34

meeting others who are doing the things

11:37

that you are doing super important

11:39

community is huge. And

11:41

then when you have an issue, something

11:43

pops up. Hey, Aye.

11:47

I need help with this specific

11:50

thing. In this rehab

11:52

project have you had

11:54

any experience with that? You're

11:56

there's someone there is someone in

11:58

your network. Who's like, oh man, that happened

12:00

to me. Here's what happened. Here's

12:03

what I had to do. Here's how I

12:05

solved that problem. You

12:08

know, and you're going to be able to, again,

12:10

move forward faster because of their

12:12

experiences. So the

12:14

connection in your network is

12:17

huge. Learning from experience.

12:20

Okay. Every trip teaches

12:22

us something new. Every time we

12:24

go on a road trip, we learn different

12:26

things about our kids. Uh,

12:28

timing of stops.

12:31

We learn to ask every

12:33

time we're close to a rest stop. Does anybody need

12:35

a rest up? Because inevitably, inevitably,

12:38

we will be. Just

12:41

passing it when someone's like, oh, I need to go

12:43

to the bathroom. Oh. So we've learned

12:46

that we ask as we're approaching

12:48

those rest stops, even if it gets monotonous and

12:50

they're pretty, pretty quick. And you

12:52

know, we have a lot of them. We

12:54

always ask because we don't

12:56

want to have that obstacle.

12:59

Pop-up. And each,

13:01

each time we get valuable lessons.

13:04

And in real estate.

13:08

You're going to learn by doing, you're going

13:10

to learn from others as well. But

13:13

nothing is going to teach you

13:15

as much as your experience. If

13:17

you're sitting on the sidelines. Yeah. You

13:19

can understand it. And maybe.

13:21

I see some things like, oh, okay. I understand

13:24

why they chose to do this. I understand

13:26

why they chose that exit strategy,

13:28

even when maybe. They were planning

13:31

for this to be a fix and flip. You

13:34

can understand it, but when you're

13:36

going through it, and

13:38

you're the responsible party, you're

13:40

the one involved in

13:43

it. You're going to learn so

13:45

much more. You got to get out

13:48

and you got to do. So you're learned

13:50

from those experiences. Safety

13:53

first. So thorough due diligence

13:55

is key making sure, you know, on our road

13:57

trip, making sure our car as

13:59

well, service making sure the tires

14:01

are aired up. You know, the

14:04

windshield washer fluid is full.

14:06

The oil is good. All

14:08

of that stuff is important for a

14:10

huge road trip. Now one day,

14:12

our tire

14:14

pressure gauge went off. And

14:18

we had to stop and check it. And

14:20

it ended up being our spare

14:22

tire. That sensor was a little bit

14:24

low and it went on and then it

14:26

went off just pretty much as quickly within a couple

14:29

of hours. Um, after

14:31

we checked and made sure the other tires were okay,

14:33

so it went off, but. Knowing

14:37

that. We have

14:39

those things that we need to check

14:41

before hand. It's super important.

14:43

This is where due diligence and good

14:46

underwriting comes in on your projects,

14:48

because if you are

14:50

diving into a project, And you're.

14:53

Relying on others due

14:56

diligence. For you.

14:59

That can be an issue, especially

15:01

when maybe. Their

15:03

goals and your goals are not quite aligned.

15:06

And you want to make sure whatever

15:08

you're doing, whatever piece you're putting

15:10

into that real estate pie. Is

15:13

as safe and secure as possible

15:16

for you. This is a

15:18

little bit different. For whether

15:20

you're the borrower and

15:23

asking for money and buying a property.

15:25

You know, you need to know if your exit strategy

15:28

is gonna work. If. If the numbers

15:30

make sense. As a private money

15:32

lender that does look a little bit different.

15:35

You need to make sure your money is safe

15:37

and secure. You need to make sure there's enough equity.

15:40

Involved for you to be

15:42

safe and secure. So there's

15:44

a little bit different. Uh, strategies

15:46

that go into due diligence,

15:49

depending on how you're coming into the transaction.

15:52

And you want to make sure that

15:55

you are keeping yourself safe.

15:57

No one else is looking out for you.

16:00

Like you're going to look out for you, so make sure

16:02

you're doing that piece. Don't

16:04

trust. Anyone else,

16:06

trust and verify, right? You

16:09

want to make sure that your

16:11

numbers are sinking up with their numbers.

16:14

And if you are looking

16:16

at a property. And they're saying the

16:18

ARV is this, and you're getting something

16:20

different. Make sure you open

16:22

those lines of communication and talk

16:24

about it. And if you're not

16:26

getting a satisfactory answer, Then

16:29

maybe this is not the deal for you and that's

16:31

okay. But you have to

16:33

make sure. You are keeping yourself

16:35

safe. As safe as possible in

16:38

real estate. Because

16:40

you're the only one that's really, truly looking

16:42

out for you. So due diligence is key.

16:45

All right. Taking breaks. We all know

16:47

that with long road trips. It

16:50

can be hard. It can be tiring.

16:52

Sometimes you need to switch drivers sometimes

16:55

y'all just need to stop. Get out,

16:57

stretch your legs, move a little

16:59

bit and get the blood pumping.

17:02

Get some good oxygen in. Maybe you're

17:04

stopping. At a local park

17:06

and you're getting out, you're moving, you're taking a hike,

17:09

you're walking, you're just sitting outside getting

17:11

that fresh air, taking that

17:13

break. Is revitalizing.

17:16

Right. And so in your real estate journey,

17:18

You may be grinding and you may have

17:20

your head down and you are doing all the

17:22

work and you are working so hard,

17:25

which is awesome because that's going to move your business forward.

17:28

But don't forget to take

17:30

the time. To take the step back.

17:34

Am I going where I thought I was going

17:37

is my trajectory, the path that I

17:39

expected to take. Uh,

17:41

have I veered off because I've gotten

17:43

distracted by other things or am

17:45

I moving forward in those goals? How

17:48

am I feeling? Am I feeling overwhelmed?

17:51

Am I feeling stressed? Feeling

17:54

like I've got a lot of things going on

17:56

and. You know, just treading

17:58

water, just barely keeping your head above

18:00

water. If so you need to take that step

18:03

back. Because

18:05

when you have that time to reflect,

18:07

relax a little bit, you're going to come

18:10

back. And

18:12

be ready to go. You're going to make better decisions.

18:15

You're going to feel better about the whole process.

18:18

And that's a good thing. So. Make sure you're

18:20

taking some time to reflect

18:23

and it's, it's nice to be present

18:25

also, you know, you may be

18:27

in a tough spot in your business, but

18:30

when you can be present. And just

18:32

sit in that for a

18:34

second and really look

18:36

at it. For what it

18:38

is and realize, man, look how far I've

18:40

come look at all these things that are going on.

18:42

Yeah. Their challenges right now. But

18:45

man, I'm learning so much.

18:47

And you can take that time to. To have

18:50

some gratitude about where

18:52

you're at, that's gonna move you

18:54

forward faster because then you stop

18:56

seeing negatives and you start seeing

18:58

the positives and you might find a solution

19:01

to a problem that you've had. And you've been working

19:03

on. Just because you've taken that time

19:06

to step back and relax

19:09

a little bit, but also just look at

19:11

it from a different perspective. I think

19:13

that can be really helpful. Make

19:15

sure you guys are taking some time

19:17

for you. All right.

19:20

Document your journey. This is

19:22

a, this is a good one, you know, as we're

19:24

taking pictures, you know how the

19:26

window and all our stops, making sure I take

19:28

pictures and every little state that we were in.

19:31

You know, it's good to be able to look

19:33

back and say, look at where we've been.

19:35

Look at all the things that we've done in this

19:37

last two weeks. We had

19:39

an incredible journey and

19:42

it's kind of fun. Cause you know, my mom Darrel's

19:44

mom. We know they're following along.

19:46

So they get to see where we've

19:49

been, what we've done, the things that we're

19:51

doing, and it's exciting

19:53

because other people get to learn from you, but

19:55

then you're going to be able to look back and be like, oh, I remember

19:58

remember that we had such a good time. You

20:00

know, we went. We got to spend time with

20:02

good friends. We had amazing food.

20:05

We had amazing views. God's

20:07

creation is so incredible

20:09

and so incredibly diverse. We got to see

20:11

so much of the country in the last

20:13

two weeks. What an incredible time it

20:15

was. Now for real estate,

20:18

you might be thinking, you know, you get to document

20:20

that journey from the fix and flip. That

20:22

was like, you know, the hoarder house to

20:25

this amazing luxury build,

20:27

whatever it is, you know, and you get to watch

20:29

that. Journey progress.

20:32

Documenting that is super key. That's

20:35

also good for future lessons.

20:37

Cause you're going to learn from it. You're going to be able to look

20:39

back and be like, okay. Yeah. I remember

20:42

when this happened and this is what we had to do.

20:44

You know, you'll figure some things out from that

20:47

helps others see what's possible

20:50

and others might want to come along with

20:52

you on this journey. So that's really

20:54

cool. So you're going to be helping

20:56

others and also learning

20:58

from it yourself. So make sure you're documenting.

21:01

Seek advice and guidance, right? Travel

21:04

guides are there for a reason.

21:06

They help you. No.

21:09

What are the places that you want to see

21:11

that you don't want to miss? And also maybe

21:13

some things that you want to avoid, you know,

21:16

Out Rushmore in the summertime is

21:18

going to be super busy or Yellowstone. You

21:20

know, maybe you want to see it at a different

21:22

time of year when it's less busy, whatever

21:25

that might look like. Seeking

21:27

guidance and advice from. Experts

21:30

mentors, those who have.

21:34

Done that trip before is

21:36

super helpful because you're going to get

21:38

little golden nuggets of information.

21:41

That you're going to be able to use in your

21:43

journey as well for us, it was great that

21:45

we went with people. To

21:47

this little resort who have been

21:49

there before. That was cool

21:52

because then they already knew

21:54

the area. They could tell us where to go, what the

21:56

best places to eat were around there,

21:59

the best places to explore.

22:01

And that made our trip more enjoyable

22:04

because we didn't have to figure it out. We didn't have

22:06

to stumble through the dark and figure it out on

22:08

our own. Right. And again, that's where the travel

22:11

guides come from. They give you that

22:13

advice. So you have a more

22:15

enjoyable experience just

22:17

like with real estate when you're getting.

22:20

Uh, advice and guidance from those

22:22

who have done the thing before

22:25

that's going to improve your experience. Because

22:28

again, you're learning from them. And

22:30

you're avoiding some of the pitfalls that maybe they

22:32

came across as well. So super

22:34

important. To seek advice.

22:38

And then enjoy, enjoy the rewards.

22:40

Once you reach your destination and

22:44

the gains that you were hoping to achieve,

22:46

whether that's, you know, just being able to

22:48

spend time with friends when we're on that

22:50

road trip. Maybe those gains

22:52

in real estate or the

22:54

monetary gains that you were hoping to

22:57

achieve, but a lot of time the monetary

22:59

gains are great, but it's the experience.

23:02

It's the lessons that you learned. Those

23:05

are the rewards that you

23:07

will use over and over and over

23:09

again, because those lessons

23:12

learned. Those experiences

23:14

have taught you so much that you're

23:16

going to use them as you move forward.

23:18

It'll help guide you and further.

23:21

Trips, right. It'll help guide you in further

23:23

investments. Because you've learned a

23:25

lot from that. So those are the lessons.

23:28

Those are the rewards that really are going

23:30

to stick with you, that you're going

23:32

to use. Time and time

23:34

again, that are so valuable.

23:37

Yes, the monetary reward. Awesome.

23:39

We love that from real estate. That's why we're

23:41

all here. And that's super important

23:44

for sure, but I think

23:46

the lessons, the connections

23:49

that you make through real estate,

23:52

Are going to be so much more valuable

23:54

in the long run than those

23:56

temporary monetary gains that you make.

23:59

So. Those are the things

24:01

that I've learned from our amazing

24:03

road trip that we just went through. And

24:06

I hope this was valuable for you. I hope

24:08

you found some little golden nuggets

24:11

and just a different perspective, really a different

24:13

way to think about your journey. Sometimes.

24:16

Like we've talked about you're in the grind

24:18

and you're in it, and

24:21

sometimes it's nice to just

24:23

take that step back. And really

24:25

think about how far you've come.

24:28

Think about your real estate journey.

24:30

Think about where you started.

24:32

And where you're at currently. Now

24:34

you may only be baby.

24:37

baby. investor, just starting out

24:40

and you have a little bit of experience.

24:42

But that experience. is important. Maybe

24:44

you've been doing this for a couple of years and

24:47

you've traveled a long way. Whatever

24:49

it is. Being able to look back and appreciate

24:52

how far you've come, the lessons

24:54

that you learned and take

24:57

from those lessons and those experiences,

25:00

and be able to. Use it moving

25:02

forward. Super powerful. All

25:04

right, everyone. I hope you enjoyed today's

25:06

episode. I look forward

25:08

to seeing you again next week until then

25:10

have a great one.