TRP084: Strategic Focus
February 27, 2020
Transcription
Hey, I want to welcome you to today’s show. We’ve got a great episode today and I’m going to be talking about strategic focus. This is so important as we are off into the second month, kind of wrapping up in 2020. Oftentimes people kind of make these plans for new years and resolutions and goals and stuff like that. But a lot of times what I see people doing is lacking strategic focus. So I want to talk about strategic focus and what I believe that means and how it can help propel you forward as it really has us. And with that being said, I’ll give you a little bit of a background about how I came to this thinking by going through the downturn of 2008 and nine; we went through challenges just like anybody else.
You know, praise God. Thankfully none of our investors, you know, lost any money in terms of capital or their return, that kind of thing. But it still was a very challenging time. And as I went through that one of the things I had the benefit and the blessing of being mentored by Paul Martin Nellie, he’s the president of John Maxwell team. One of his books I read was called thinking for a change. And that really was very impactful because again, it dealt with how successful people think, how to become strategic in your thinking. And really, that also spoke to me about becoming strategic in our focus. And so when I stepped back from that and I look at some of the, the things that we had done, properties that we’d bought, you know, in 2004 or five or six, we were in a white hot market here in Florida.
And really when I was honest with myself, some of the challenges I was going through is because it really wasn’t strategic. We were just, you know, buying deals to get properties at that time, which was not the right way to approach it. And so we had some properties that were in you D areas, rentals that were not the greatest. And so, again, that just presented more challenges. But as I work through that, what really happened for me was kind of this click, this light switch that went off about what I need to become strategic in our focus. And so with that, we began to really look at how do we want to move forward, what do we want to do? And we had a big single family operation as well here in Florida.
And so at that time there’s just a giant tsunami of foreclosures getting ready to happen in Florida. House values had sunk dramatically, almost 50% or more depending on the area. And so we saw, Hey, we want to be able to ride this wave and be strategic in that. And so we created a large short-sale company with really an intention of helping people, helping people get out from underneath the debt, helping them get resolved with this problem that they have. And so it was very successful as well. And so that just kind of gives you a little bit of background. But then again, everything we do now is very strategic, very focused. And so when I look at what a lot of times people are doing, they, they do a lot of a little of this, a little of that.
They see this person doing something. So then they do it and they see this person successful. So then they do that and they see this person successful. Then they do that. It’s like that’s really not the best approach. What I want to encourage you to look at is being strategic about first of all, designing the life that you want. And so maybe it is you’re an investor. It’s like, well, what kind of returns do you need to get to generate the income that you need in order to be able to live the life that you want? And we just did an episode. You can go back and check it out on the interview with Brad where his life changed because he became strategic in how he’s going to invest. And so I want to encourage you to take a look at that.
Define for yourself. At what point do you need a certain income level, and then how much money do you need to have accumulated? And then how much return do you need to get off of that money to generate that income level? And then with that, then begin focusing on, well, what’s the best way to deploy that capital, right? So again if you’re going to get a whatever, 10% or 12% return invested in real estate, how much money do you need to deploy in that arena? And then that begins to be part of that focus. And then the next component of it, you’ve got to look at it to see is, well, what do I have the greatest confidence in? Is it in multifamily large apartment complex? Is, is it in single family? Is it in a storage units or real estate funds?
And so then with that, you begin to say, what’s an honest evaluation? In my own personal temperament when I look at and evaluate those different areas, I like the apartment complex is the greatest because again, everybody needs an affordable roof over their head. There’s a shortage of quality affordable housing in this country. There’s an ever growing demographic that is going to be a renter for a long time, if not a renter for life. And the type of affordable product that we work in, which is the C+ B-. You really can’t build that product for the cost of construction anymore based off what it rents for. And so this is something that again, is being very strategic as an investment class. And so when you look at your own situation, now you define, okay, this is what I’m going to invest in.
This is the asset class or multiple asset classes I want to invest in. And then now you said about to become strategic in what is the timeline to implement this, so that I’m going to begin to implement this here in 2020 and let’s say if you focus and recognize that I need to invest $1 million of capital, then okay, I want to begin to deploy $250,000 a quarter over the ensuing year. And I want to vet the people that I’m working with and doing that. I want to see that they’ve got the track record performance, whatever the case may be. But that’s part of the strategic focus of being able to accomplish that outcome. To get that million dollars invested where it’s earning you, that return, we’re in turn, it’s going to be generating, a significant income for you to help get you where you want to be.
The other part of it, I would say is like related to a strategic focus is the actual defining of the life that you want. And this is where I think a lot of times people fail to do this, where it’s like truly defining this is what I want my life to look like. And so if that’s what I want my life to look like, here are the necessary steps that I need to do it. And you know, we’ve done that in the business. We’ve defined very clearly, you know, who it is we want to work with. We’ve defined very clearly what type of apartment complexes that we will buy. We’ve defined very clearly how our management, oversight philosophy is. And as a result of that, it dictates my focus, right? So there’s a lot of times there’s conferences out there that people go to the quote unquote learn more and it’s about networking.
And so for me, I don’t attend quite a number of those because it’s not really who I’m seeking to connect together with. It’s not what my focus is because I’m being strategic. And so that saves me time. That collapses downtime and produces faster results because it’s a defined outcome. It’s a strategic focus. And you know, I would say that quite frankly, I’d spent probably a year to a year and a half working through that, praying through it, thinking like, what do I want my business to look like? What do I want the investors who I work with to look like? What is God’s intention for me on how I’m supposed to help those people? What is it that our plan is an intention is for the apartment complex is what should that look like? And so the result of that kind of strategic focus is it’s very liberating, right? So that I don’t have to feel bad about not going to this event or that thing.
You know, as other people are like, man, are you going? It’s like, no I’m not because it doesn’t fit within my strategic focus or even to when we get a certain apartment complexes or opportunities that are offered to us, I don’t even have to look at it as a consideration because it doesn’t fit within my strategic focus. Like I’ve had one, Hey man, there’s a brand new ground up construction opportunity in Vegas. It’s so killer. And it’s like it may very well have been but it doesn’t fit for where I’m at in my eyes. Focus in the strategic outcome that we’re looking for. And so you know, I want to encourage you to instead of just running and gunning and going after things or just listening and doing here and there and kind of a dabbler that you take a step back really becomes strategic in defining the outcome that you want either for your life, for your business or for your investment capital and then become focused on implementing that strategy.
And I would venture to tell you, and I would say from my own personal experience, the outcome is far greater. You collapse down, like I said earlier, the amount of time it takes. So instead of taking five years, maybe it takes six months to a year, you get greater results because you’re focused on executing the things that really move the needle and you have a greater liberation where you’re not having to consistently be pulled in one direction or another because of what other people may or may not be doing and the end result of it is you will live a more fulfilled life, greater results, greater impact. And I will also say greater reward. So Hey, praise the Lord. I’m grateful for you being a part of our listenership and audience and look forward to and love to have you to be part of what we’re doing also in the investment arena.
Thank you so much. God bless you. Thanks for listening to another episode of the real estate preacher podcast. I hope today that you learn something that you can immediately apply in your life or business. Make sure that you check us out on iTunes or at therealestatepreacher.com for more information. If you want to find out more about partnering together with me personally on real estate deals, including apartment complexes, go to the real estate preacher.com and click on the invest with Randy link. I look forward to talking with you personally. Have a blessed and victorious week four. This is the week God has ordained for you.
